At Driftwood Kitchen, one of the most popular and scenic restaurant on Laguna Beach, it's not hard to have a good satisfying paleo lunch, without meat. We replicated a similar dish at home substituting asparagus that was in season for corn. Super easy and just as delicious, you don't even have to cook the vegetables.
Restaurant dish -- Avocado, grilled corn, heirloom tomatoes, feta cheese, lime-mint vinaigrette.
Our dish -- adding in shrimp and olives
- 1 cup of quinoa (for four- cooked according to package; we cook with1 tsp of Better than Bouillon for extra flavor)
- 3/4 pound of asparagus bottom two inches trimmed and discarded,cut into two inch peices
- 1/2 cup of feta cheese (leave out or substitute with crumbled vegan cheese for the vegan)
- about a dozen heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
- several sprigs of cilantro
- 1 medium avocado
- 1/2 cup of pitted olives (optional)
For the vinaigrette-
juice from one lime
1/4 cup olive oil
fresh herb of your choice -- 1 tsp - I used thyme rather than mint
1 tsp honey
1 tsp of balsamic vinegar
1 TBSP of chopped shallots
1 clove or 1 tsp of finely minced garlic
Whisk all the ingredients together and pour our quinoa and veggies. Combine well.
While the quinoa cooks, combine asparagus with olive oil and bake on a sheet pan at 350 degrees for about 5 to 6 minutes. When quinoa is done, place in a large serving bowl. Allow a few minutes to come to room temperature. Add asparagus, tomatoes, feta cheese and vinaigrette. No more than a few minutes before serving, slice and dice the avocado and add. Gently combine and top with cilantro.
As you can see here, to make this more of a substantial meal for the carnivore/pescatarian, we included shrimp. Simply add 1/2 a pound (serves two) of cleaned and deveined shrimp to a pan with a TBSP of olive oil. Cook shrimp for about two minutes on each side, or until pink. Simply incorporate into reserved quinoa.