I must confess, Donny & I still have our Christmas light up (*gasp*). I know, right?! It is almost St. Patrick’s Day and we have not taken down our Christmas lights! What is wrong with us….Hahaha we have 1) not made it a priority 2) every weekend we have actually been home seems to have been freezing or windy and nasty 3) we have not made it a priority. Oh adult responsibilities.
I probably could have taken them down myself while Donny was out of town, but I was slightly scared that I would fall off the ladder. Let’s be real honest….Doug would not be very helpful if I fell off that ladder so I decided to postpone it yet another week. Dear neighbors, I promise we will take them down this weekend! Saturday is suppose to be in the 70s and Sunday in the 80s. We will get them down!
On the plus side, I was scheduled to have jury duty on Monday (gross…). I looked yesterday though and it was canceled! Whoop whoop. My sister had jury duty this last Monday and ended up having to sit on the jury. She said it was actually pretty fun but still had to sit through the selection process and miss a few days of work.
Anyway, I don’t know about you, but this warm Colorado weather has me ready for spring and summer! I mean the forecast for the weekend is saying 80 degrees… yes, 8-0 degrees! What?! Awesome. It’s been sunny and in the 70s the last few days and I am diggin’ it. Every morning I am tempted to pull out my sandals and wear them to work. I have not done that quite yet but, I want to!
Maybe this warm weather is what inspired me to use citrus in this recipe. Quinoa is one of my favorite grains and we use quite a bit of it at the ol’ Edson household. I like having some type of prepared-grain ready to take for lunch/snacks during the work week and I typically choose to make brown rice or quinoa.
I made a big batch of this recipe one Sunday and then took it in my lunch all week. For lunch I would bring grilled chicken to go with it. A couple days I brought it as a snack and I put diced avocado in with it and another day I mixed in some edamame…all three variations were delicious!
I also learned how to make a vinaigrette. Donny’s words were that vinaigrettes were a “pain in the a**”. It takes a lot of whisking to get the dressing to keep from separating. Oil and water just do not want to combine!
- 1 cup of quinoa, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup of mandarin oranges, peeled and segmented
- 1 cup dried cranberries, unsweetened
- 1/2 cup pepitas, toasted
- 1/4 cup mandarin orange juice
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar
- Prepare quinoa according to package directions.
- Put orange segments, cranberries, and toasted pepitas in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add the cooked quinoa and mix together.
- Whisk together the mandarin orange juice and vinegar in a small mixing bowl.
- Slowly begin to add the olive oil to the bowl.
- Continue whisking until the vinaigrette is emulsified.
- Pour dressing over quinoa salad.
- Mix until dressing is distributed evenly throughout the salad.
- Refrigerate until serving or at least 15 minutes.
- Enjoy plain, on a bed of spinach, or with another protein (chicken, edamame, beans, etc).
