Joe isn’t at home right now, so I can eat whatever I want.  We have very different tastes and very different takes on food.  What I’ve realized is not only do I eat much less when he’s not around, but I also manage to plough through the leftovers and pantry foods because I don’t mind leftovers or pantry foods.  Also, I like grains such as quinoa, and he doesn’t.  I have had two very good “leftover creations” in the past week that weren’t half-bad:

Tuna-Asparagus-Quinoa Medley

Ingredients: 1 can of tuna, a quarter-bunch of asparagus, 1 cup of quinoa, 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley, half of stalk of green onions, half-handful of chopped walnuts, stone-ground mustard, mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions: Cook quinoa according to instructions.  Chop asparagus into 3/4″ inch lengths and steam.  Chop green onion and parsley finely.  Toast walnuts.  Mix all ingredients together.  Serve as is, or on toast.  I think instead of walnuts, this would have tasted good with cashews.

Tomato-soup-black-bean-quinoa medley

Ingredients: Boxed tomato soup, canned black beans, 1 cup quinoa, shredded Monterey cheese, salt, pepper, Italian chopped parsley and Tobasco sauce.

Instructions:  Reheat tomato soup.  Drain black beans, rinse, and reheat. Make quinoa according to instructions (I already happen to have a stock of this).  Mix together and season with salt, pepper.  Top with shredded cheese and parsley.  Wish I also had some edamame to toss in.