I recently visited my friend’s family farm in Michigan and wanted to bring something healthy and easily portable to the BBQ. I knew we would be eating a lot of grilled meat and many variations of potato and macaroni salad so I decided to bring a light, yet still hearty and scrumptious, colourful citrus salad. All the fruit and veggies make it so refreshing and not at all boring because of the crunch from the pistachios, the mild heat from the jalapeño, the bitterness of the grapefruit and the tang from the feta. This is now my go to ‘weekend away, thanks for letting us stay’ staple salad. And let me tell you, this is just the health kick we needed after a full day of drinking and ‘Redneck Olympics’ (yes, it’s exactly what you’re thinking) games in Michigan.

Ingredients:

• 1 orange – cut off peel with a knife (I find this better so I can get all the pith off), cut in 4 lengthwise and then thinly slice
• ½ grapefruit – same prep as orange
• 1 can drained chickpeas
• snap peas – ends removed and cut in thirds
• ¼ cup pistachios – chopped and roasted in oven until lightly toasted
• ¼ cup crumbled feta
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• ½ jalapeño (optional) – seeds and core removed, very thinly sliced
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 cup water
• pinch or two of cayenne (optional)
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp white wine or apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp honey
• ½ lemon juice
• ¼ tsp salt (plus a couple pinches)
• pinch of pepper

Preparation:

Add broth, water and quinoa to a saucepan, bring to a boil and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until fluffy. Add butter and a pinch of salt in the last couple minutes of cooking quinoa.

Meanwhile, drain the chickpeas, pat dry and roast in oven with cayenne, garlic powder and pinch of salt for about 15 minutes until the outside is golden. Toast chopped pistachios until golden in the oven or in a dry sauté pan (keep an eye on them!) just for a few minutes. Prepare and chop all the fruit and vegetables. Whisk together olive oil, vinegar, honey, lemon juice, salt and pepper for the dressing. I like to make my dressing in a small mason jar so I can easily shake it up to ensure it’s all emulsified.

Layer the ingredients instead of mixing the salad together so you can see the bright colours from the fruit on top. First the quinoa, then add the chickpeas, jalapeño and snap peas. Now add the dressing so it is able to reach the quinoa and not just sit on top of the salad. Top that with the pistachios, parsley, feta and finally the grapefruit and oranges.