| 12 August 2010
Recipe for Quinoa Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups dry quinoa (cook as directed below, 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water or broth)
- 15 oz. can of low-sodium black beans
- 15.5 oz. can of low-sodium garbanzo beans
- 1 small jar roasted red pepper
- ½ cup diced green onions
- 1 cup fresh spinach, heated with a small amount of water until it wilts slightly
- 3 tbs. olive oil
- 2 tbs. balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbs. water
Optional ingredients: parsley, feta cheese, hot peppers or hot sauce
How to prepare quinoa
- Pour quinoa into a fine mesh strainer and rinse thoroughly under running water. Strain completely and set aside.
- Bring 3 cups water to boil in medium saucepan. OR - for a bit more flavor, use 2 cups water and 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth.
- Add quinoa, cover and reduce heat until boiling very gently.
- Stir a few times to prevent sticking.
- Quinoa should be done after about 12 minutes and liquid is completely absorbed.
- Transfer quinoa to a large bowl and set aside.
For the rest of the salad
- Rinse both cans of beans thoroughly, drain, and set aside.
- Dice peppers and onions into ½” bites. Be sure to drain off the roasted red peppers so they aren’t too wet.
- Blend oil and vinegar by shaking in a covered jar.
- Add all ingredients, including parsley, feta and hot peppers if desired, to the quinoa.
- Add dressing and toss gently.
- Chill at least one hour, although flavors will be more pronounced as time goes on.
Serves 8-10 as a side dish, 4-5 as a main dish
| 07 January 2010
After a ton of work, and probably even more procrastinating about getting my own site done, LightSpeed Designs has completed the 2010 revision for motostika.com
head on over to take a look and let me know what you think!
| 04 February 2010
Many of you have heard me refer to my company, NineBark Marketing, as a virtual agency. That term can be taken in a lot of different ways, so I found this article helpful in providing a concise explanation of what a virtual agency aims to accomplish.
As many of you know, the advertising and marketing services agency world has gone through about a decade of mass conglomeration, resulting in the establishment of agency networks that target Global 1000 companies. Their business models really don't allow them to provide services to small and medium sized businesses.
Although there are independent agencies in every market in the country set up to support local and regional small businesses, their overhead costs cause them to be almost as expensive as the agency conglomerates. Small businesses, by and large, are priced out of the market for high-end, agency quality marketing deliverables.
In response to this situation, virtual agencies are popping up everywhere. Combine little to no overhead and the flexibility to build talented teams of freelancers around specific projects on a worldwide basis and you have a virtual agency.
