nectarine, cherry & almond spinach quinoa bowl

this easy dish is simple, satisfying and full of fresh summer flavor. it makes for a great mid-day meal, light dinner or packed lunch!

You guys already know I’m a sucker for cherries but this past week I got a batch of nectarines from Costco that were literally to die for.

Each one of them was perfectly juicy on the inside and full of delicious nectarine flavor. I feel like nectarines are often eschewed for peaches but if you ask me, they definitely deserve their time in the spotlight with their stone fruit counterparts.

If you caught my Instagram stories last week then you know that I went through my pantry and did a major clean out. It felt so good to organize everything. But as I was going through and organizing, I must have pulled out about 3 fully sealed bags of quinoa, 2 fully sealed bags of brown rice, and so on.

I’ll be at the store, think to myself “hmm, we might need brown rice” and will grab a bag. Then all it takes is for the pantry to get a little disorganized hiding just how many bags I actually have and next thing I know, I’ve got a 3 month stock pile! Please tell me I’m not the only person who does this!

After the third bag of quinoa, I made a vow to myself to be better about taking inventory of what I have before replacing it! I actually decided not even to do a full grocery shop this weekend because it will force me to get creative with what I have.

When I was in grad school and on a super tight grocery budget, I had to get SO creative to put meals together that were both tasty and filling. And honestly? Some of my absolute favorite meals came out of those times!

So after my pantry organizing I immediately made a batch of quinoa to have on hand for meals during the week. And out of that was born this delicious salad. I had a few cherries left from my Costco batch last weekend and one single nectarine (I seriously ate the entire batch of them myself last week!) and a few handfuls of baby spinach.

I made Owen a spinach grilled cheese with some then loaded up my bowl with the rest. From there I pulled out whatever else I had on hand – red onions, my one remaining nectarine, a handful of cherries, feta cheese and some roughly chopped almonds.

And as is usually the case, this thrown together meal quickly become one of my favorites. It’s loaded with protein, fiber, heart-healthy fat and tons of summertime flavor. The juicy fruit goes perfectly with the nutty quinoa, crunchy almonds and crisp spinach.

It also happens to make an absolutely delicious packed lunch. Just hold the dressing and you’re good to go! If you don’t want to risk the juices from the fruit wilting the spinach, go ahead and pack those separately.

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