I was skeptical of this recipe from The Pioneer Woman for Quinoa with Tomato, Basil, and Mozzarella, but since (i) I like Pioneer Woman, (ii) I like tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella, and (iii) the point of cooking club is to try new things, I gave it a go.  I wanted to like this because, you know, quinoa, it’s all the rage and I want to be food cool.  But, it turns out that all of my worst fears about quinoa were confirmed.  We hated this.  Couldn’t eat it.  Ended up throwing it out (which was painful because it’s terrible to waste that much food and quinoa is not exactly cheap).  I didn’t even take a picture of it.  Do you remember those pine cone bird feeders you made at Girl Scout camp?  The ones where you slathered a pine cone in peanut butter, then rolled it in bird seed?  Well, I think I would have rather eaten the pine cone bird feeder because quinoa pretty much tastes and feels like bird seed to me and at least with the feeder, I could have masked that taste with peanut butter.  Next time, I’ll just use the tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella to make a salad and call it a day.

We were surprised when we both actually liked this recipe for Avocado Chicken Enchiladas.  Neither of us are really avocado fans, so we didn’t have high expectations for this dish.  But, it was yummy!  And without being overly heavy!  I think the verde sauce really made the difference here.