Ah it's summer strawberry season in Prince Edward Island. When fruit is in season my mind starts spinning with all of the delicious things I could make. Pies, squares, cakes, salads, ice creams, compotes, chutneys, salsas.....the possibilities are endless. These bars are basically a strawberry tart in bar form with a classic fruit crumble topping. I love the crisp shortbread bite beside the fresh fruit filling. Serve them with vegan ice cream or my favourite, cocowhip and try to eat just one. 
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This taco salad is so good and so simple. I couldn't decide one night between a salad with black beans & corn chips or black beans and quinoa, so I ended up using both. This salad is bright, flavourful, and hands down better for you than most taco salads I'm familiar with.... but I promise you won't notice. 

Ingredients for salad (for about 4 servings): 

•  1 cup quinoa, cooked
•  a large package of greens (couple handfuls per person)
•  1 can black beans, equal part corn niblets
•  3 tomatoes, chopped + bit of minced red onion
•  2 avoacados
•  1 big bag of corn chips (I used black bean garlic multigrain chips, they were great)
•  a handful of chopped mint
•  a handful fresh cilantro
•  2 limes
•  1 x recipe for cumin lime dressing (below)

Method: 
I chose to mix the ingredients with the vinaigrette separately and layer them onto my plate, but it's not neccessary. 

1. Toss with the vinaigrette: greens & chopped mint, black beans & corn, tomato and red onion. Season with S & P. Divide onto plates.
2. Toss quinoa with a bit of vinaigrette, S & P and a few sprinkles of smoked paprika, spoon onto salad mixture.
3. To the salad add slices of avocado, a couple of lime wedges, corn chips, a drizzle of coconut yogurt, fresh cilantro and an extra sprinkle of smoked paprika.
4.  Dig in.

Whisk all ingredients together, store unused vinny in the fridge
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• 1 cup good quality olive oil ( I use an affordable Presidents Choice brand Extra Virgin Olive Oil, you just dont want something that tastes bitter.)
• 3/4 cup lime juice (i like it punchy, a traditional vinaigrette ratio would call for 1/2 cup of lime juice to 1 cup of oil, you could start with that ratio and add more lime to taste)
• 1 tbsp dijon
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp cumin

This is a delicious summer treat. I whipped it up in minutes after a workout on a whim. I always need an afternoon caffeinated pick me up, so decided to combine caffeine with a lil dose of cocoa & vanilla protein powder. Cashews add body and richness. Dates & cocowhip provide that touch of sweetness. Don't opt out of the cocowhip topping. Once it settles into the drink it adds so much deliciousness to the flavour profile. I bought the "so delicious" brand of cocowhip at the superstore in the organic/natural food freezer section and I'm so glad I did because it's the bomb. While I always prefer to avoid convenience products, life is busy. PIus, I cook a lot, like full time at my job, then every day experimenting in my own home, so I try to cut myself some slack here and there if the product is great, and this one really is.