A Great Salad to Jump Start the Year

I do not do New Year’s resolutions, so much as use the new year as a goal setting opportunity. I look at five or so life categories and see what needs fixing up: health, spiritual, parenting, marriage, career, and sometimes personal development.  Our whole family works together.  Then we hang our list where we can personally access it.  I like the bathroom for mine.  Year before last we drew pictures and laminated them.  They are still there, friendly reminders and little works of art.  We used to stick a copy in our stockings and pack them away.  That way when we pulled out the Christmas decorations the following year we could rejoice, hang our heads in shame, or just reminisce about the adorable goals our kids set when they were small.  The stockings were getting full and we kept losing the originals around the house during the year.

There is always something to work on in the health category. Especially since the new year comes on the heels of a very festive Christmas season with hundreds of treat choices in flavors that seem always limited to that season.  I was doing well eating my salads before October. The eating season seems to start off with my birthday and continue through the November birthdays in my family, then Thanksgiving, you get the picture. I get bored of salads very easily, so I need fresh recipes to get me going and keep me interested. I have gathered some great salad recipes from around the internet that pass my good taste, reasonable prep time and low cost tests. I am here to share my new favorite with you.  I hope you enjoy eating healthy, too!

Honeyed Parsnip Quinoa

I adapted this recipe from The Happy Foodie, a British food blog.  It is a hearty dinner salad-ish dish.  This serves about 4, but is easily increased by adding more quinoa.

1 small bag of parsnips, washed and cut into long, thin batons.

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more for dressing

2 cups cooked quinoa (more for a larger family)

3 oranges, peeled and sectioned (tangerines or clementines work well).  Reserve one orange half for squeezing as dressing

1 Tbsp honey

4 cardamom pods, seeds ground (a dash of nutmeg and cinnamon is okay if you do not have cardamom handy)

2 Tbsp chili powder

fresh parsley, chopped

Large handful of chopped nuts ( I recommend almonds, but pistachios or walnuts work, too)

Salt and pepper to taste

Roast parsnips and onions drizzled with the olive oil and tossed with the chili powder in a preheated oven on 400oF until edges are browned, about 20 minutes.  Toss with quinoa, salt, pepper, parsley, and nuts.  Mix salt, pepper, juiced orange, more olive oil to taste, and honey until emulsified and mix with the salad like a dressing.  Can be served warm or cold.

I like baby carrots roasted along with the parsnips, if I have them on hand.