kenny bloggins

oh why hello, friend.
have you just had a tremendously long, stressful, nay painful, day at work hell? no better cure than taking the dogs for a long walk in 90 degree humid weather and then taking a long time cooking a very healthy dinner! don't lie, i saw you eat a corndog for lunch...lets counteract that with some vegetables!

you will want to have some things ready. since it was a pretty safe bet that i was going to be the only one eating this, i went ahead and cooked 1.5 cups of quinoa and set it aside. y'know , i wanted leftovers for lunch.

then i peeled and diced an acorn squash into small pieces. i boiled it for a second to soften it some, then sauteed it in a little olive oil.

add some pepper and salt. get wild with it!

you will want to have some corn, you can use canned or frozen but have you ever used fresh corn instead? it will change your life. it takes more time, but it is so so so worth it. take an ear or two and shuck em, then snap em in half and boil them for a while. take them out, let em cool, and use a butter knife to scrape the kernels off the cob. at first it seems crazy, like, this is gonna be way too much work for corn, but once you get the hang of it, it'll be supes easy and quick.

i could probably eat it by the handful like this, it is so good.
um so you have quinoa and corn and sauteed acorn squash set aside. lets go ahead and mince some garlic, and chop up a few leaves of kale really really finely, and heck why not add a tomato to the mix?

lets go ahead and in a bigass pot, sautee the garlic in some olive oil. then throw in the corn and tomatos.

then throw in the squash, and let everything get all sizzly and hot.

this is already looking pretty magical, yes?

dump in the kale and mix it in, then add the quinoa. stir it all up, get it all hot and what not. then take it off the stove to start cooling.
and now, for the best and most non secret ingredient: PESTO!

use some teaspoons of it, however much you want until you're happy.
oh shoot. hey for additional awesomeness, maybe you want to add some pumpkin seeds? i did.

and then you're done!
go sit on your ass on the couch and don't think about work, just eat your amazing dinner and pet your dogs!