Today’s spicy quinoa salad is the perfect quinoa recipe for your busy week! I talk a lot about how I make a big batch of quinoa on the weekend so that I have it on hand to quickly make quinoa recipes during the week. Most often, I will make it on Saturday so that Sunday morning I can whip up the boys quinoa pancakes or donuts.

For me, the solution to feeding four people (3 meals a day) without anything coming from a box and only eating out once a week is planning and making things like quinoa ahead. As an example, yesterday not only did I use the quinoa I’d made to make the boys donuts for breakfast, I also made six pizza doughs for the freezer, using a modification of this flat bread pizza recipe where I use cooked quinoa for 3/4 cup of the cereal mix. (I make a double recipe every other week.)  I also made a double batch of quinoa fritters, which my entire family will happily eat during the week.

The rest of the week, I will rely on easy quinoa recipes like this spicy quinoa salad. Starting with cooked quinoa, it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare. And, while it certainly falls under the category of easy quinoa recipes, it isn’t short on taste!

I love chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and was thrilled a few years ago when I found it in spice form. Like cayenne pepper, it really adds heat to a dish but the heat here is quite different and well worth stocking your kitchen with one more spice. If you don’t have it on hand and aren’t that into hot dishes, feel free to use cayenne pepper instead.

What about you? What are your solutions to feeding your family a healthy diet without getting overwhelmed?