Pomegranate Wild Rice Salad

I made this colorful, healthy salad for a family dinner last week. Even the salad-rejecting six-year-old ate it and proclaimed to everyone, “This is the only salad that I will eat.”  When I made it for a bridal shower I recently hosted, amidst the declarations of delight from the ladies, one woman announced, “Pomegranates are a work of love,” which is absolutely true.  The future bride loved it enough that we are going to be making it by the bushel for her wedding.  My husband and I decided that it is especially great because it is one of those things you feel obligated to eat for the sake of your health only to discover that it tastes so delicious that you don’t need a pat on the back or reward for your healthy eating. The recipe comes from Lindsay at Pinch of Yum who is an inventive, creative cook and this recipe showcases her skill. The dressing for this salad has a hint of orange, so I think it would go together nicely with the cranberry sauce with its hint of orange and the sweet potatoes that I will have a recipe for early next week at your Thanksgiving table.

pomegranate-wild-rice-salad

Do you know the best way to get the pomegranate seeds out of the pomegranate? I know some people who try to hit it out with the bottom of a wooden spoon, but I personally believe in the under-the-water magic trick since there is far less of a chance of wearing the tiny splatters of pomegranate juice. Not to mention that if you’re like me, you’re not wearing an apron nearly as often as you should.

Cut the pomegranate in half.

pomegranate seeding (1 of 5)

Submerge the halves in a large bowl of water.

pomegranate seeding (2 of 5) Start breaking the pomegranate into a bunch of pieces.

pomegranate seeding (3 of 5)

Remove the arils from the membrane. The membrane will float to the top. The seeds will sink to the bottom. Please note that if your two-year-old is helping (as shown here), you will still get splattered by the pomegranate juice.
pomegranate seeding (4 of 5)

Pour out the water. The membrane will pour out with the water. There will be some small pieces to pick out, but it should only take a couple of minutes.

pomegranate seeding (5 of 5) Now for the lovely salad.  You need to toast the walnuts and cook up some wild rice. Chop some spinach or baby kale.

pomegranate wild rice salad (2 of 3)

Mix it all together with a simple dressing and add some feta cheese.  Time to eat this gorgeous, healthy creation. I also made this with parmesan cheese and chicken replacing the feta and walnuts for a more substantive dinner version.

pomegranate wild rice salad (3 of 3)

 

Pomegranate Wild Rice Salad - Thanksgiving Side
 
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Gorgeous, healthy salad. Use baby kale or half spinach half baby kale. This was also delicious with parmesan cheese and chicken in place of the feta and walnuts.
Author:
Serves: 5
Ingredients
  • For the Salad:
  • 1 cup pomegranate seeds
  • 2 cups chopped baby kale or spinach and baby kale mix
  • 2 cups cooked wild rice
  • ¼ cup toasted walnuts
  • ¼ cup feta cheese
  • For the dressing:
  • ½ cup minced purple onion or shallot
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 TB orange juice
Instructions
  1. Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. Prepare the dressing by blending all the ingredients together in a blender. Lindsay has you saute the onion for a few minutes to scale down the bite, but I like the onion tangy so I just added it to the dressing as is.
  3. Pour the dressing over the salad and enjoy.

 

 

 

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3 thoughts on “Pomegranate Wild Rice Salad

  1. We made this for Christmas Dinner. So so good!! I cooked the onions first for the dressing, and it made it so sweet and yummy. I love that several steps can be done in advance (dressing, cook the rice, free the Pom seeds) to make the final steps really quick and easy on a holiday. We also enjoyed the leftovers warmed up next day. Definitely a keeper recipe!

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