04 May Quinoa, spinach and almond salad with orange and cinnamon dressing

I spent my pregnancy cooking and eating Polish food: practicing my dumpling making; stuffing my face with caramel and cream and cookie dough; making many, many doughnuts (three times in the space of 2 months) and generally re-working my favourite recipes. The book is coming out in July, now there’s a stubborn stone sitting on my hips and penance. But penance doesn’t have to be unpleasant. I won’t lie, the beginning is hard, but it becomes more enjoyable with time. Both the exercise and the food. Tracey Anderson is getting (marginally) easier to handle and I’m remembering my favourite healthy recipes. This crunchy salad has a Middle-Eastern flavour and doesn’t make you feel like you are doing penance at all. Ok, so it’s not cardamon-custard seductively wrapped in choux pastry (it’s in the book, you’ll love it), but it is flavour packed none-the-less.

Ingredients