Tasty Spinach Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Quinoa Leftovers!

Earlier this morning I was feeling frenzied and unhappy about all the clean-up and labor that comes with having small children. My wrists hurt and my back hurts.

It occurred to me that the only thing you ever really “have” is the moment you’re in, so why not be happy about it? Why not make the most of it and fully own it?

Like everyone else, I’m chasing after that “final product”, that “accomplishment” and because I’m not there, ever, I find myself unhappy. The cleaning is never finished, the laundry is never done, the kid’s hair is always smeared with food, and all of my side projects are being ripped apart by my children.

I had to finally accept that “I’m never really there, because I’m always in the middle of some project or some cleaning rampage”. And, I’m ALWAYS BEHIND!

What if there was a way to take this moment and turn it into something better? Pretend like it’s glorious and surreal and have that eventually become my reality? Easier said than done.

Speaking of my accomplishments, I’d like to present you with a salad that I made. This salad is an inspiration (and variation) from a salad I saw on the Alaska Airlines menu (mine doesn’t contain chicken, has cherry tomatoes, avocado, arugula and a different dressing). I really like the combination of flavors and it’s great if you already have some of the ingredients on hand and want to use these leftovers in your salad.

So without further ado, may I share with you some pics of my healthy salad adventure?

Start with the sweet potatoes:

Chop your sweet potatoes into cubes, put some tin foil on a cookie sheet, spray that foil with cooking spray and set your oven to 400 degrees. You can make an olive oil marinade and drizzle it over the potatoes before baking. You’ll roast the sweet potatoes for 20-25 minutes (turn them over with a fork half way through).

I like to drizzle my pre-roasted sweet potatoes with a mix of: olive oil, chopped up garlic, garlic salt, garlic powder and dried parsley flakes.

Once your potatoes are done, cool them in the fridge!

Next, look for last night’s leftover quinoa in your fridge (It needs to be cooked and chilled):

Other ingredients you may want to include in your salad are as follows. Just use as much or as little arugula or baby spinach as you see fit (that will be your salad base).

Make sure to cut a piece of garlic in half and smear your entire salad bowl (especially the bottom) before inserting any salad ingredients. Like many other novice salad makers, I make salad dressing with these ingredients here. Don’t forget a splash of sea salt!

And here it is! Just cut up the veggies however and how much you want. Mix up your entire salad with the homemade olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and sea salt dressing your made. You get the picture.

Voila! Very simple healthy salad using leftover ingredients.