Quinoa & Kale Salad & Spring Break Reading
Book recs for spring break + a healthy quinoa salad
Hello from spring break in Arizona, where I’m getting a taste of the retired life and finding that it suits me quite well. The kids and I are here visiting my parents and taking advantage of their proximity to a neighborhood pool and walking trails for a low-key, low-expense spring break.
Longer, warmer days mean more time spent outdoors and a real desire to get out of the house. Who wants to be indoors cooking dinner when you could be strolling through the neighborhood in the evening? Not me!
For this reason, I really like making salads early in the day that will hold up in the refrigerator until dinner time. Or, they can sit in the refrigerator and provide lunch several days in a row.
This quinoa and kale salad combines quinoa, chickpeas, kale and parsley with a zesty vinaigrette. You can top the salad with crunchy nuts or seeds and thinly sliced red onion for more flavor. Crumbled feta and/or olives are also an option.
You can skip the kale in this salad if it’s not your thing. Instead, combine the quinoa, chickpeas, parsley and vinaigrette with roasted vegetables or shredded chicken.
Once I figured out how to cook quinoa in my Instant Pot, I started eating it more often. Instant Pot quinoa cooks in just 1 minute, which is much easier than monitoring it on the stove.
Spring Break Reading
I’ve just started The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, and it’s an engaging and humorous book that feels perfect for vacation reading (except for the fact that it’s very thick and heavy…consider a kindle version if you want to read poolside).
Here’s my list of other books I considered for spring break (I haven’t read any of these yet, but if you have let me know!)
Emily Henry’s new book Funny Story
Mercury by Amy Jo Burns
Girls They Write Songs About by Carlene Bauer
Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler
The Crane Wife: A Memoir in Essays by CJ Hauser
Dinner Last Week
I’m always curious about what other families are eating. Aren’t you? Here’s what my crew ate last week.
Monday: I fired up the grill for the first time in a long time and grilled a pork tenderloin. I marinated it overnight in soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and garlic, but the pork was little bit bland so a sprinkle of sea salt over the cooked meat really helped.
I served the pork with white rice and shredded cabbage, grated carrot and sliced cucumber - a colorful veggie combination that my kids are really liking right now.
*grilled pork tenderloin only needs about 8 minutes per side on the grill, then let the meat rest for 10 minutes under foil before slicing.
Tuesday: Miso butter salmon, potatoes and broccoli.
Wednesday: Next month I’ll be sending paid subscribers a recipe for baked miso chicken & coconut rice. I made the recipe one more time for my family to make sure it was perfect. Get excited paid subscribers, you’re going to love this modern version of a chicken and rice casserole!
Thursday: I sent paid subscribers a recipe for baked feta with roasted vegetables, chickpeas, olives and herbs. We had it for dinner on Thursday, served over orzo.
Friday: I cooked a batch of white rice early in the day and chilled it in the fridge, then turned it into fried rice with scrambled egg for dinner. I had a package of bacon in the fridge so I added it on the side for the kids, and I also steamed bok choy.
That’s it for this week! Before you get too jealous about my vacation week, you should know that I’m on my way out the door to the grocery store and Costco. Even on “vacation” a refrigerator does not stock itself. Sigh.
xo
Jenny