i’m trying to get on my a-game when it comes to my health. i want my girls to grow up knowing nothing other than a happy healthy lifestyle for this family. good clean food is on that list and although making the full switch to organic might be tricky, i’m going to do my best to eat fresh, balanced meals every day.

sometimes i just get lazy.

but the other day, i wanted to eat nothing else but a light and fresh quinoa salad with an equally light and fresh ginger citrus dressing. daani helped me make it and helped me eat it! check out the recipe below.

cranberry apple quinoa salad with a ginger citrus dressing

all you need is…

• 1 tsp oil
• 1/3 cup red quinoa
• 1/3 cup quinoa
• 1/3 cup moong dhaal or yellow split peas
• handful of dried cranberries
• 1/2 medium red onion, diced
• 1/3 cucumber, diced
• 1 apple, diced
• handful of kale, chopped and massaged
• handful of chopped curly parsley

• for the dressing you will need -
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• zest of one orange
• nub of ginger, finely grated
• juice of 1/2 lemon or orange
• salt to taste

and all you have to do is…

• bring 2 cups of salted water to a boil. add in 1 tsp of oil
• rinse grains in a bowl and cook in a medium-sized pot for 20 mins in 2 cups of boiling water.
• with 3 minutes left on the clock, drain a little bit of the water out of the pot.
• fold in the onions and cranberries. the extra water will continue to cook up the grains and plump up the cranberries.
• continue stirring until the water is gone.
• remove from burner and let cool completely.
• once cool add in the cucumber, apple, kale and parsley.
• for the dressing, whisk together all ingredients.
• pour dressing over the salad and toss to coat.

serve as a side to grilled fish or on its own at lunch! this tri-blend grain mix is one of my favourites. i like the bite of the moong with the smooth and hearty quinoa. i usually make this mix and add in chopped veggies and fruit of all kinds for new takes on this salad base.

also, i talked about having a salad exchange soon here, what’s your go-to salad?