Recipe: Garlicy Spinach and Almond Quinoa Lunches

As many of our friends and coworkers know, at Casa de Domestocrat we make our lunches on Sunday for the week so everything is ready to go when we walk out the door each morning. We can’t afford to eat out everyday (people spending $8 on a sandwich makes me want to cry) or default to eating crap midday. The goal every week is to come up with something healthy, portion controlled, and delicious to eat at work.

I’ve been doing this for so long I don’t even remember the last time I bought lunch to eat at work. 6 years maybe? I just don’t get how people do this but it happens everyday. You deserve a healthier lunch than that!

In any case, here’s a recipe you can make in any quantity but I’ve documented here the quantity for 10 healthy lunch portions (for both John and I to eat for lunches Monday-Friday).

I love this recipe because it’s quick, healthy, and pantry friendly (you can keep most of these ingredients on hand at all times).

Garlicy Spinach and Almond Quinoa Lunches
3.75 cups quinoa (to boil in 7.5 cups of water if you need some math help)
30 oz. of spinach (or 5 ready to eat grocery store bags)
3 cups almonds
2 big handfuls of chopped parsley
3 tbsp. EVOO
2 tbsp. crushed garlic
3 tbsp. salt (seems like a lot but isn’t in this quantity)
2 tbsp. black pepper

Combine two tbsp. of your EVOO and as much spinach as your biggest pot will hold. I started with two bags of spinach, let it wilt down, and repeated in one bag increments until it was all wilted together.

While you’re wilting your spinach, make your quinoa. Bring water to boil (2:1 ratio here), toss in your quinoa, and stir occasionally.

Can you believe this is 30 oz. of wilted spinach?! CRAZY.

Next drain off any water your spinach may have given off. Crank the heat, add the rest of your EVOO, garlic, salt, and pepper. Combine thoroughly and sauté for a few minutes on the high heat.

Afterward take your finished and fluffy quinoa and scoop into the pot with your spinach. Add parsley as well and toss to mix everything together.

Once that is thoroughly mixed, add your almonds. I added almonds to this recipe because they add a fabulous crunch and meatiness. The texture here is perfect.

Toss until everything is mixed together. Taste now for spices and adjust your salt and pepper if you need to.

Next set out your 10 tupperware containers and scoop an equal amount into each. For this batch there was a little over 1 cup in each tupperware.

At this point you have a delicious, nutritious, vegetarian lunch. Of course you can add any meat you like to the top. We actually added a simple baked chicken to this but it’s perfectly good as is.

Balanced nutrition was what my goal with this recipe. Spinach is low in calories, fat, and carbs but high in iron, antioxidants, calcium, and potassium. Quinoa is low in fat but is high in fiber, protein, and potassium. Almonds are calorically ok in moderation with high fiber, protein, vitamin E, and magnesium.