Quinoa Veggie Stuffed Mushrooms

I saw a recipe similar to this in one of my favorite magazines, Real Simple.  I switched up some ingredients, used what I had on hand and what was fresh.  The result: a delicious dinner!

I've been eyeing these huge, gorgeous looking portobello mushrooms in the market for weeks and I am convinced that I subliminally gravitated toward this recipe when I first saw it!

Step 1: Heat the oven to 400 degrees and cook 1/2 cup quinoa according to package directions (about 12-15 minutes).

Step 2: place the mushrooms on a baking pan and rub them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast them (stem down) for 18-20 minutes or until they are tender.

I thought my mushrooms were burned, but they were fine!  Just got a little dark.  The olive oil, salt and pepper really brought out the flavor.

Step 3: Mix the quinoa with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, freshly chopped basil, onions, chopped almonds, dried thyme, salt, pepper and 1 TBS olive oil.

Step 4:Make a dressing to drizzle over the mushrooms and a side salad.  I used: 1 TBS  water, 2 TBS olive oil, 2 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice, thyme, salt and pepper to taste.

Step 5: Top the mushrooms with your mixture and drizzle with the dressing!

Step 6: EAT!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quinoa

1/4 cup raw almonds

1/4 of a medium onion

2 tsp thyme (1 for  topping; 1 for dressing)

3 large portobello mushrooms, stems discarded

3 TBS olive oil

2 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cucumber

8 cherry tomatoes, halved