fruit

I can’t imagine a more tasty way to boost your nutritional intake than this salad that I made last night. I substituted nectarines for mango because it is really hard to find nice, fresh ones out here, but that worked lovely as well. I also added roasted, slivered almonds for more texture. It was so fresh and lovely (and easy!). This salad will be a regular staple in our home.

Courtesy of Sala Kannan at veggiebelly

Blueberry Mango Quinoa Salad with Lemon Basil Dressing Recipe

Serves about 2

For the quinoa
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water

For the fruits and veggies
½ cup fresh blueberries
½ cup cubed ripe mangoes
½ cup cubed cucumbers
1/2 tablespoon dried cranberries

For the lemon basil dressing

1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
10 Basil leaves, chopped finely
Salt and pepper

Place the quinoa and water in a medium skillet and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat, and simmer covered for about 15 minutes or till the quinoa is cooked. Remove the lid, and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Let it cool to room temperature.

While the quinoa is cooking, combine the fruits in a bowl and refrigerate till you are ready to serve the salad.

Whisk together all the dressing ingredients, except the chopped basil. Refrigerate till you are ready to serve. Chop and add the basil to the dressing just before serving. If you add it earlier, it will go black.

Add half the dressing to the quinoa and mix gently.

Assemble the salad just before serving – toss the quinoa, fruits and cucumbers together. Serve other half of the dressing on the side. Serve immediately.

Now that our weather has finally broken and we are no longer living under patch-work quilts, many of us have a serious gardening itch! However, it can be expensive to get set-up if you aren’t already. At the Deroche Decibel, we have been trying to come up with ideas to work as a community to make it accessible for everyone. Some of the ideas are a “tool swap” where everyone comes with some tools that they may have doubles of, or don’t need and everyone can take something home that they need. It was also suggested that people who are dividing plants could offer those on a limited budget something to work with. A “seed” swap is also a great way to gain variety as is a gardening commitment: the way this works is that one person signs up to “start” a certain type of vegetable/fruit/herb and donate a row. If properly organized we could technically have an entire edible garden for the price of one pack of seeds! We would love to organize some meetings so if anyone would be willing to take on this task, we would love to help bring in the community and add it to our events. If you are interested, please contact us