Monday, November 29, 2010

Quinoa pomegranate salad - and whack a pom

If you look through the Recipe list for this blog, you'll notice some recurring ingredients, namely quinoa and chorizo.  Well, don't fret, there's a recipe with chorizo coming up in a couple of days, but for now, how about some more KEEN-wah? 

This salad was inspired by a colourful dish over at Scandifoodie. It seems I am not half as healthy or resourceful as Maria when it comes to ingredients, so I've substituted quinoa for rye grain, and spinach for kale, though the pomegranate is there in all its glory.  This is a lovely salad especially if you cook the quinoa in chicken stock instead of just water - it adds more flavour to counteract the sweetness of the craisins and pomegranate. I also added some grilled prawns for even more seasaltiness though the salad is filling enough on its own.

And remember how to remove the seeds from a pomegranate: cut the pomegranate in half, then hold one half, cut side down, over a large bowl. Hit the pom with a rolling pin and the seeds should fall out (a lot of juice will also spray out, hence the large bowl).  This method is known as 'whacking a Pom'This method will also hopefully be employed during the Ashes tests.

Quinoa and Pomegranate Salad
serves 3-4

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
2 cups reduced salt chicken stock
50g baby spinach leaves, shredded
1/4 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
1/2 pomegranate, seeds extracted
1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

Dressing
4 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tblsp red wine vinegar
1 tblsp pomegranate molasses
salt and pepper

Method
1.  To cook the quinoa: rinse the quinoa in a fine sieve, drain, then place in a medium saucepan with the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for about 10 minutes, until the quinoa is soft and the liquid has evaporated.  Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
2.  For the dressing: Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a jug or bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3.  To assemble the salad: Fluff up the quinoa with a fork, then combine with the spinach, craisins and pomegranate seeds.  Pour over the dressing and toss through.  Sprinkle with walnuts and serve.

Ingredients, including olive oil, pomegranate molasses, red wine vinegar, quinoa, unwhacked pomegranate, spinach and walnuts.
Other nuts, such as cashews, would also be fantastic in this salad.
A bowl of high-protein deliciousness.

19 comments:

  1. If you ask me, you can feel free to keep both the quinoa and the chorizo recipes coming because I love them both! I have become OBSESSED with pomegranates lately! Need to try this.

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  2. There's something strangely satisfying about whacking a pom. Juicy little treasures they are. Beautiful salad!

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  3. Bahaha, "whacking a Pom"! Love it, and I don't even watch cricket =p

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  4. It sure does look like a stunning salad Bel! And I love how you've made substitutions to fit what is available to you. That Maria girl does make healthy eating look too good to be true ;)

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  5. When Maria made the salad it also caught my eye Bel! This is a lovely and summery looking salad. Do you have any leftovers?!:)

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  6. I learnt how to remove the seeds from Nigella. She does whack a pom.. keke

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  7. Bel...I absolutely love the idea of pomegranate and quinoa...not only beautiful...but tasty as well :-)

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  8. Oh please let this happen during the Ashes. I'm somewhat disheartened by yesterday's events. Sigh...

    See, if I'd had a bowl of this to console myself, I may have recovered from it by now.

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  9. I love any quinoa and pomegranate mix - looks delicious!

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  10. What a wonderful site, after a few moments on here had to go make a salad.

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  11. Ooh, Bel! Maria's food does always look so wonderful, but this really does too. The colors are wonderful and it sounds really healthful and delicious. I want some...:)!

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  12. Yummy! I just made this today but with a few minor changes... Kept the kale and used a lot of it, had to use regular molasses but had some pom vinegar on hand, and no craisins but added fresh blueberries! Oh, and a tablespoon or so of chopped cilantro made it even better! Thank you for the inspiration!

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  13. Nice tip on getting the juicy pomegranate seeds out - removing the edible portion is the most frustrating aspect of pomegranates. The quinoa pomegranate salad looks gorgeous - great color, and I'm sure it was delicious.

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  14. I love Pomegranate. I make use of it in summer. Reminds me of popping candy! But healthier….

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  15. oh gosh, I thought that said a "whack of porn"...I should get my brain out of the gutter.

    I love salads with pomegranate...so crunchy and odly juicy! I'm book marking this for a warm summer day

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  16. Lol - the Co-pilot would adore you and quote your passion for cricket as stuff a "good gf would say". Love the look and sound of this - the bright pomegranate seeds make it very Christmassy too!

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  17. Gorgeous colours! Nice to find another pomegranate recipe - I'm often stumped with how to use them. They do seem to work really well in salads and the colour looks quite Christmassy

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  18. We have pomegranate in the shops now and we finally have the molasses so I'll have a go at this one, thanks

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  19. This is utterly delicious! a must make for dinner this week!

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