Quinoa and Brown Rice Salad - serves 4

I am back from the deep, emotional, depths of May.  Thank goodness. I never thought one month could literally kill me.  It almost did.  I won't bore you with the plethora of events, but it was by far the busiest month of my entire existence.  This week I actually told a friend that I once we got through May, I felt like I did when I extracted my first child; being able to finally take that long, deep breath once the baby came out was the most exhilarating feeling I'd ever had until June 1.  It wasn't just me, it was a whole mess of mom's within our school that went through the same thing.  I'm just now hearing from them as if they've locked themselves in a bomb shelter until the coast is clear.  It's clear.... the smoke has settled and I'm blogging again.

I fixed this salad not too long ago and it was wonderful.  Mixing the brown rice with the quinoa gives it a tremendous nutty flavor, and paired with sweet potatoes, raisins and pistachios, it will go with just about anything.  It's packed with protein, a big plus for anyone out there who needs a recharge after a crazy day.  Or two.

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, cooked to package directions
1 cup brown rice, cooked to package directions
1 sweet potato, peeled, chopped into 1/4 dice, tossed with olive oil and baked at 400 for 20 minutes
1/2 cup golden raisins, chopped
1/2 cup pistachios, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
Olive oil for drizzling
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and toss well to combine.  Bring to room temperature before serving.