1/2 cup (packed) sun-dried tomatoes ** Instead of sun-dried tomatoes I use organic fresh cherry tomatoes and slice in half

2 cups chopped fresh basil

1/2 cup hemp seeds

2/3 olive oil

1 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon minced garlic

4 cups cooked quinoa

2 cups baby spinach cut into extra thin slices

If using sun dried tomatoes soak in hot water for 30 minutes or until soft. As I mentioned above I use fresh cherry tomatoes instead of sun-dried tomatoes. This is a personal preference I tend to go with fresh as much as I can .

Use a food processor to blend the basil, hemp seeds, oil, nutritional yeast (if using), sea salt, and garlic into a pesto sauce. It takes a few times of mixing the ingredients to make sure it is a sauce.

In a large bowl, toss some of the pesto (use as much as you  want to add to taste) with the quinoa, tomatoes and spinach. Can be served cold or gently heated.

Recipe adapted from Superfood Kitchen/Julie Morris