Salmon and Quinoa Salad

I used to love cooking. I used to love going to the bookstore and pouring over cookbooks and new issues of Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines (am I totally dating myself here?), scribbling recipes into my notebook (Yes, I am dating myself). I used to love going to the grocery store and farmers market, picking up fresh produce and using them as inspiration for new dishes and meals. I used to love making risotto.

Then, we started a family. Yes, I know. It's the trite and typical story about how cooking goes out the door once kids enter the picture. Kind of. After having Jasper, Ed and I were able to cook a real dinner for us most nights. As a baby and toddler, Jasper went to bed at a respectable time (usually between 7-7:30pm) which meant that Ed and I could sit down and have a civilized meal after he went to sleep. When Everett arrived, things became a bit more complicated, having to manage two meals and two bedtimes.

I always thought that I would feed our children the same food that we would eat, and I didn't want to cook two or three separate meals. Unfortunately, that's become a reality in our house. It's partially due to my kids' picky eating habits (Everett is picky but Jasper is more flexible), but it's mainly due to food allergies. Both boys have them. A lot of them which makes introducing new food and cooking interesting meals hard. However, we manage to feed the kids their daily allotment of veggies, protein and carbs. Ed and I, on the other hand, often end up eating yogurt and granola or cereal for dinner because we're tired and frankly, because it's easy.

Lately, I have been getting a little sick of our dinner routine and I can feel that my body is craving vegetables and a real meal. I finally got around to making this delicious honey glazed salmon and quinoa salad - a recipe that I found on The Post Social.

It was super easy to make and didn't take much time. The salmon was moist and tender with a sweet-savory flavor from the honey and mustard glaze. My favorite part was the quinoa salad. The crisp pears, crumbly feta cheese and quinoa melded together in yummy deliciousness. We didn't add fresh mint leaves because we didn't have any and I didn't feel like going to the store.

While we did manage to eat a proper grown-up meal, it was still amongst the chaos of placemats, sippy cups, markers and maracas, but I'll take it. I'm hoping that we can get back to eating regular meals, and I know that I need to make an effort to eat more vegetables.

Tell me, what are you quick and easy go to meals? How do you get your veggies every day?

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