Last year, Janet from The Taste Space shared with us a luscious Salad in a Jar. Her Topaz Dragon Ginger Dressing is one of my all-time favorite salad dressing solutions. As an opening recipe to this year’s Healthy Lunchbox series, this Quinoa Protein Bowl is an excellent choice for those who is meat-free or simply enjoys an alternative protein source every now and then. Thank you for your contribution, Janet! This is beautiful. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
You are busy. I am busy. I get it.
Your kitchen is empty. Your cupboards bare and you have a few limp veggies in your fridge. What will you ever eat?
Healthy lunches need not be so difficult.
Full disclosure: Life has been so busy I have not been able to photograph the majority of my meals recently.
However, my meals don’t look too different from this template: cooked whole grains, legumes, vegetables and a sauce. I love the ease of using a rice cooker for rice, but ours is still in storage and cooking quinoa is simple if you have a pot.
Edamame is a fool-proof bean that is easy to throw into a meal – you do not even have to rinse it.
Throw in your favourite (leftover) vegetables. Here, I used cooked sweet potato and kale.
Now douse it in a creamy dressing. The dressing’s creaminess is courtesy of the hemp seeds and nutritional yeast and smothers the salad nicely.
The ingredients here all contribute to the high protein level (almost 35g/serving). Nutritional yeast and hemp seeds sneak in more protein than you may realize in addition to the quinoa and edamame (and kale!).
What is your template for healthy lunches? 
Quinoa Protein Bowl Adapted from Choosing Raw
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed well and drained
1 cup water
1/2 cup edamame, shelled and defrosted if frozen
1 cup cooked sweet potato or winter squash
2 cups raw kale, stemmed and finely sliced
1 cup unsweetened/nondairy milk of choice
1/4 cup shelled hemp seeds
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp lemon juice (half a lemon) Black pepper and salt to taste
1. In a medium pot over medium-high heat, bring water to a boil. Add a touch of salt. Add rinsed quinoa once boiling. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the quinoa is cooked through and a bit of water remains. Remove from heat, add edamame, cooked sweet potato and kale. Keep covered and allow to steam?for 5 minutes until kale wilts.
2. In a blender, combine non-dairy milk, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, miso, mustard, turmeric and lemon juice. Blend until smooth. Season to taste.
3. Stir in as much dressing as desired once you are ready to eat. The quinoa will soak up additional dressing. Top with additional hemp seeds if desired.
Serves 2.
Thank you for inviting me back, Sunny! Can’t wait to see what else everyone shares. 🙂