Quinoa Taco Salad

I made this a few weeks back and it was a hit. Replace ground beef with yummy-taco seasoned quinoa and you've got yourself one delish meal.

Ingredients:

-1 cup quinoa, uncooked
-2 1/2-3 1/2 Tb of a packet of taco seasoning (FYI, most packets have about 4 Tb in them)
-2 cups of water
-romaine lettuce, washed and cut for the salad
-2-3 tomatoes, diced
-1 can of black olives, sliced if you want to
-1-2 avocados, sliced
-salsa
-tortilla chips
-other optional toppings include cilantro, sour cream, cheese, hot sauce, etc.

Directions:

1. Put the quinoa, taco seasoning, and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low, cover, and let cook for about 15 minutes (or until it's looking cooked and fluffy). Remove from heat when done.
2. Meanwhile, cut up all the fresh vegetables for the salad.
3. THAT'S IT! Let everyone dish up how they like (some prefer to do lettuce first, then other toppings....others don't like to mix it all together).

Variations on the recipe:
-Try adding black beans or kidney beans to the quinoa after you've cooked it (or serve on the side).
-Try adding 1 cup of frozen corn to the quinoa right as it's finished cooking, mix well, and put the lid on to help warm the corn.
-Cook 1-2 tsp of minced garlic with the quinoa.