cocoa-gingered apple & orange salad

It is amazing to believe that my Baba's generation rarely had the luxury of enjoying fresh fruit, when in her youthful glory. Certainly in the summer there were berries on the farm, but citrus fruit was only featured on a rare and special occasion. She remembers fresh mandarin oranges around Christmas time, and little else. Today we are spoiled rotten, with the wide-availability of fruits and vegetables available to meet our every whim and fancy. But yet, we are so accustomed to a varied selection of plump and juicy tomatoes, perfectly glossy apples, and seedless watermelons. Many times we take it for granted, moaning when produce is less than perfect, and not every variety of heirloom fig is available. So apples and oranges it is. Luxurious items 60 years ago, in the Canadian prairies, but today are commonplace market staples. But still we get bored. As a university student, I can count endless numbers of bags of apples and oranges I purchased, since they were relatively inexpensive, convenient, and healthful. I also consumed countless combinations of apple and orange salad. Red delicious apples, green apples, honey, no honey, mandarin oranges, navel oranges, fresh lemon, no lemon. Then recently, I discovered a nice batch of candied ginger. Jeff loves candied ginger, especially chocolate covered candied ginger. It's alright, but I think I prefer the ginger in smaller doses. It is however, especially nice when literally pulverized, and used to enhance other ingredients, like oranges and chocolate. Wanting to do something a little bit different for a late breakfast one Saturday morning, I decided it would be nice to include the candied ginger. Cocoa-gingered apple & orange salad For the topping: 3 tsp cocoa nibs 6 cubes candied ginger 1 tbsp sliced almonds 1 tbsp raw hempseed 1 apple and one navel orange, per person 1. Toast the almonds in a medium-high heat sauté pan. 2. Using a coffee grinder, combine the almonds, and other topping ingredients and crush. (lasts in the fridge up to one week). 3. Wash and chop fruit, and place into large bowls. Drizzle with lemon juice if not consuming immediately. 4. Sprinkle the cocoa-ginger topping evenly over the fruit. Enjoy!
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