Quick Quinoa Mint & Cranberry Salad

Happy New Year to you all! No doubt everyone is having parties with friends at this time of year and entertaining people over the holidays. Here in Australia it’s summer so it’s all about fresh salads and bbq’s. I love using quinoa to “beef” up a salad with a bit of protein to make it a little more filling.

I threw this salad together for our New Years Eve party. That’s my favourite way to come up with recipes. I like to call it “free styling” hehe. You know, a bit of this and a bit of that. Sometimes it’s a disaster but most of the time you get magic. The simplicity of this dish is what makes it magic to me.

The sweet bursts of cranberries, zesty lemon, fragrant mint and parsley and crunchy almonds is the perfect combination of flavour and texture sensations. I loved this salad, it’s almost like a festive tabbouleh, almost. This salad would go great with some tahini and falafels, or lamb you could put it in a pita pocket!

Everyone is throwing around New Years Resolutions at this time of year and saying things like 2015 is going to be the best yet! I swear i said that last year? And yes 2014 was amazing, i didn’t achieve everything that i wanted to but i’ve come further and further with my dreams and goals and learnt so much about myself that i didn’t know and i’m so grateful for 2014 and the lessons i learnt. I like that people are open and welcoming great things for the New Year, it gives you a sense of new opportunity and hope. You can brush yourself off and let go of whatever might have been holding you back in 2014. One thing i’ve learnt form 2014 is that it’s great to have goals and talk about them and dream. But that’s only part of it. This year in 2015 is going to be all about DOING for me. Not talking about it or dreaming about it or worrying about it. Think of the “doing” that could get done instead of spending the time worrying or thinking about doing it. So if you’re wanting to get healthier this year, lose weight, earn more money, find your passion, think about what you have to DO to achieve that and DO it! Take it day by day and do anything you can to make that happen,. If your New Years Resolution falls by the way side early on this year, try to remember this one thing, “Just do it!”. I have a scar on my thumb that looks just like the nike tick or the “swoosh” and it’s a great reminder to “just do it”, maybe i’ll get that tattooed underneath the scar!

I wish you all the best for 2015 and remind you that whatever you want to achieve, you can, as long as you believe! Now go and make this delicious salad and get shit done!

Arie-Elle