Quinoa Salad + Pomegranate Dressing
This is a delicious healthy summer salad that I designed for the new menu at the healthy chef. I wanted something that was vegetarian friendly and loved the idea of making a tabouli style salad using a little quinoa and lots of fresh parsley, mint and spinach. Technically quinoa is not a grain but a relative of green leafy vegetables like spinach and silverbeet. It’s a complete protein that offers a good serving of all nine essential amino acids as well as macronutrients such as manganese, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus. Before cooking, rinse it well under cold running water, then cook just like rice using 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water. It should take about 15 – 20 minutes. Once cooked, turn off the heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes if you want to serve straight away, or cool and use as required for this salad. The pomegranate dressing is the hero of this dish in my opinion. It marries wonderfully with the sweet ripe tomatoes, seeds and almond.
Whenever the body is growing, repairing or replacing tissue, protein is involved. Proteins are found in your skin, bones, muscle and all your organ tissue, in addition, they are used to produce hormones, enzymes and hemoglobin that carries oxygen in the body. Think of your body as a high performance sports car, made from quality carbon fiber along with a fine tuned engine. Protein is the manufacturer responsible for building it, forming the structure and strength. It also moonlights as the mechanic, replacing parts and making sure everything runs smoothly. If we don’t get enough protein, the body takes it from your lean muscle and bone which will make you weak and frail and can result in symptoms such as growth failure, loss of muscle mass, a suppressed immune system, hormone depletion and weakness of the heart and respiratory systems. Some great sources are lean grass fed beef, organic chicken, fish, organic eggs, natural yoghurt with live cultures, tempeh, quinoa + almonds.
Serves 4
1 cup cooked quinoa
2 cups parsely chopped
2 cups mint, chopped
2 large handfuls, baby spinach leaves
1 small red onion or 2 shallots, finely sliced
2 Lebanese cumber, chopped
2 ripe tomato, chopped or 250 g cherry tomatoes
20 g pumpkin seeds
20 g almonds or pistachio, chopped
20 g goji berries
Pomegranate Dressing
3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
1 lemon juiced + zest (30 ml)
2 teaspoons honey
100 ml cold pressed olive oil
fresh ground pepper
Combine all the dressing ingredients until creamy. Taste and check it should be lovely.
Mix together parsley, mint, spring onion and spinach.
Add the tomato, cucumber, seeds, quinoa and almonds.
Mix in a few tablespoons of the dressing.
Spoon into a large serving bowl and enjoy.
Have extra dressing on the side in case you need more.
NOTE: to increase protein content this salad is delicious with a dollop of natural yoghurt, white fish, chicken or tempeh.
Protein: 5 g
Carbs: 10 g
Total fat: 8.3 g
Saturated: 0.9 g
Fiber: 4.4 g
Kilojoules: 579
Calories: 138
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Cant wait to try this! please keep posting more amazing recipies teresa!
god i love ya girl, this sounds amazing!! Im just wondering if youve got any special types of tempeh you use, i keep finding ones that are slightly spiced already and i want to do it myself….any hints?
Sounds like the perfect combination of sweet, savoury, crunchy and wholesome! Can’t wait to make this tonight x
I just had this tonight!!!!!! amazingly good, but everyone said there was too much and couldn’t eat it all, so next time i wont make as much! we ate it with a little white fish and i must say this is a winner, the dressing went beautifully. Thank you so much! definitely don’t need to add more protein it is superb the way it is!
Hi Teresa,
This recipe looks great:) Is there any alternative you could use instead of pomegranate molasses? Is it very different to normal molasses?
Sarah, don’t use the regular molasses – it’s not the taste you really want in a salad. If you can’t find pomegranate molasses use a lovely simple french style dressing from my nicoise salad in the recipe section on this site…or just some simple lemon and olive oil.
thanks Teresa – amazing recipes all the time! I don’t have pomegranate molasses will hunt down or perhaps use dried pomegranate seeds in cupboard, been wondering how to use them up!
Hey Veronica – best to use the pomegranate molasses. if you can’t get it just make up the lovely French Vinagrette I have for my nicoise salad in on this site otherwise a simple lemon and olive oil dressing is lovely.
thanks Teresa, i had this last night and it was amazing. my carnivore boyfriend devoured it and had my leftovers that was meant for lunch today!
Hi Teresa,
Just wondering where you get pomegranate molasses from? I have tried a few health food stores and no one seesm to have it.
Thanks,
Dan
If health food stores don’t have it. You will find it in most Middle Eastern Grocers, gourmet grocers or Veggie stores. You’ll be able to get stuff like pomegranate molasses, orange flower water and tahini.
Let me know how you go.
Wow, this was such an amazing recipe – thank you, Teresa. We’ll be bringing it along to Christmas dinner! My partner and I agree this is one of the most amazing salads we ever tasted!!! For those in Melbourne, Oasis Bakery in Murrumbeena has a wall full of pomegranate molasses.
Hi Teresa, I have some pomegranate balsamic vinegar – is that similar to the molasses you think?
Hey Lyn, it’s not the same. If you’re having trouble finding it, just use my French dressing recipe from my Nicoise Salad on my site…Have a great Christmas
hi teresa just wanted to say thanks for this recipe. i made it for chrissy day lunch and was a super hit! you’re right, the pomegranate dressing is definitely the hero
i didn’t use the olive oil suggested and found the dressing became much nicer and tangier the next day and the day after that! so i will for sure be making it again to keep in the fridge in the future. a great thing about your recipes is they continue to introduce new ingredients to me with which i can play around with and experiement with in other recipes. thanks for providing constant inspiration to lead a healthy and respectful way of life. Best, Kate.
So glad you loved my recipe for the salad. I made it too as part of my Christmas Lunch.
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Hi, I made this for our family get together on boxing day and it went down a treat. the dressing is delicious- I used pomegranate juice and a little balsamic as its what I had on hand. thank you for the recipe.
Try Harris Farm or the deli in Warringah Mall car park for pomegranate molasses – it is well worth finding some it really makes the salad.
This quinoa salad was a big hit for our family lunch, the pomegranate dressing is divine….pomegranate molasses found easily at fruit/veg store Caringbah. I substituted goji berries for pomegranate seeds…very nice.
I have been very keen to try this recipe and have finely got my hands on a bottle of Pomegranate molasses. Off to the kitchen I go!