ADVERTISEMENT
Quinoa Salad with Oranges, Beets & Pomegranate
Quinoa Salad with Oranges, Beets & Pomegranate
10 Reviews
From: EatingWell Magazine, November/December 2012
Roasted beets and sweet dates, tangy oranges and juicy pomegranate seeds make this quinoa salad recipe festive. It pairs beautifully with turkey or roast pork.
- By: Maria Speck EatingWell Recipe Contributor
Ingredients 8 servings
for serving adjustment
Serving size has been adjusted!
Original recipe yields 8 servings
Nutrition per serving may change if servings are adjusted.
- 3 medium beets (about 1¼ pounds)
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1½ cups water
- 2 cups red quinoa (see Tips)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 medium oranges
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley, divided
- ½ cup chopped pitted dates
- 1 whole pomegranate, seeded (see Tips)
Preparation
-
Active
-
Ready In
- Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F.
- Trim the root end of the beets and remove any greens (reserving for another use); rinse and pat dry. Wrap individually in foil. Roast until tender, 1 to 1¼ hours, depending on size. (Alternatively, place beets in a microwave-safe dish, add ¼ cup water, cover loosely and microwave on High until the beets are tender, about 10 minutes, depending on size.)
- Meanwhile, bring broth, water, quinoa and salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Transfer the quinoa to a large serving bowl.
- Zest and juice 1 orange. Place the juice in a medium bowl. Working over another bowl, cut the remaining 2 oranges into segments (see Tips) and set aside. Measure the juice from the first orange—if it isn't quite ⅓ cup, squeeze the juice from the membranes until you get ⅓ cup. Add the zest, vinegar (or lemon juice), salt and pepper to the juice; gradually whisk in oil in a thin stream until well combined. Stir in ¼ cup parsley.
- When cool enough to handle, peel and dice the roasted beets. Add to the quinoa along with dates and gently combine. Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss to coat. Serve garnished with the reserved orange segments, pomegranate seeds and the remaining 2 tablespoons parsley.
- Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate beets (Steps 1 & 2) and quinoa (Step 3) in separate containers for up to 1 day. Prepare the salad up to 2 hours ahead; garnish just before serving.
- Tips: Red quinoa, which you can commonly find in stores where white quinoa is sold, gives the dish a stunning color. If you can only find white, that's fine too. Rinsing removes any residue of saponin, quinoa's natural, bitter protective covering. Most quinoa available in the U.S. has been “scrubbed” of its bitter outer coating—check the label to see if you need to rinse it first.
- To seed a pomegranate, fill a large bowl with water. Lightly score the fruit into quarters from crown to stem end, cutting just through the skin. Hold the fruit under water, break it apart and use your hands to gently separate the plump seeds from the skin and white pith. Discard the white pith. Pour the seeds into a colander. Rinse and pat dry.
- To segment citrus, slice both ends off the fruit. With a sharp knife, remove the peel and white pith; discard. Working over a bowl, cut the segments from their surrounding membranes. Squeeze juice into the bowl before discarding membrane, if desired.
- Serving size: 1¼ cups
- Per serving: 302 calories; 8 g fat(1 g sat); 8 g fiber; 51 g carbohydrates; 8 g protein; 161 mcg folate; 0 mg cholesterol; 20 g sugars; 0 g added sugars; 371 IU vitamin A; 35 mg vitamin C; 60 mg calcium; 3 mg iron; 494 mg sodium; 625 mg potassium
- Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (58% daily value), Folate (40% dv)
- Carbohydrate Servings: 3½
- Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 fruit, 1 fat
Reviews 10
September 25, 2019
By: Stacie Klein
I love this salad! I have been making it for years on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year that happens each fall (incidentally, around the time pomegranates come in season in the Midwest!). It features several traditional holiday ingredients, including pomegranates, dates, and beets. It's a bit labor intensive and the portion is huge, so I usually reserve it for entertaining and am glad to pull it out the few times a year I make it.
February 24, 2015
By: EatingWell User
A showstopper
I love making this dish especially for company or for pot-lucks. It's always a showstopper and the flavors blend wonderfully. Even folks who don't tend to eat healthily like eating this. It's somewhat labor intensive and the ingredients can be pricey or hard to find where I live -- not something I can whip up last minute. I brought this to a Christmas luncheon at my gym and it was voted best dish by the members there.
Pros: healthy, beautiful, and tastes fantastic
Cons: somewhat labor intensive, ingredients can be pricey
November 19, 2013
By: threemomgo
Attractive Healthy dish
I enjoyed making the dish almost as much as eating it; and telling everyone how healthy it is. I added halved grapes and well and it worked beautifully.
Pros: A feel good dish that only gets better as a day or two goes by.
Cons: Takes some effort to put together. I did half the prep the night before and that helped.
January 06, 2013
By: EatingWell User
This is wonderful!
Find a pomegranate seeder!!!! They make life MUCH easier and are $1 at Walmart! I also used prepared beets I found in a package at the store, all I had to do was dice them! Lastly, I used the orange just for juice and zest and cuties for the segments, MUCH easier to prepare. This was delicious and great to keep in the fridge and have a bite of for a snack for several days.
December 27, 2012
By: EatingWell User
Simply wonderful
I have already made this twice. Tooki in to a Christmas dinner and everyone was raving. No one could guess what all is in this dish. A definate keeper.
Pros: Great combination of flavors
Cons: Seeding a pomegranate-buy already seeded
December 23, 2012
By: Picabo Lillihook
Tasty, healthy, crunchy, tangy a hit!
I know, how can it be too healthy? I made this for Thanksgiving and I give this recipe 5 stars. This crunchy side was the perfect compliment to the mashed potatoes and mushy stuffing that these meals have. Most everyone loved it. Kids, not so much. Some felt it was too healthy because of the abundant quinoa, which was a new experience for them. But my diabetic sister-in-law, requested I bring it back for Christmas dinner. If you have people in your family who aren't so health concious (i.e. never heard of quinoa and think kale is an inedible garnish) then they may not try it, but it really tastes great and I ate the leftovers for a snack the rest of the week.
Pros: Healthy, colorful, crunchy
Cons: May be too healthy for some
December 12, 2012
By: EatingWell User
Great healthy salad to bring to any potluck
I have made this salad 3 times now and each time different. I never used the beets but did use butternut squash instead. Made a very nice looking salad. Use the hints on peeling the pomegranate to not make a mess.
Pros: Healthy and very pretty presentation
Cons: Do allow some extra time to put it all together.
December 04, 2012
By: EatingWell User
My new favorite fall side dish
Salads and side dishes are usually so boring, but ths one really stands out. You can also make all the components a day or two ahead of time and then assemble at the last minute. I omitted the beets because not everyone likes them, and added walnuts as another reviewer suggested.
Pros: beautiful colors, variety of textures and very flavorful
Cons: labor intensive, but it's worth it
November 16, 2012
By: EatingWell User
Work intensive, but worth it!
This is a great recipe, and well worth the work of seeding the pomegranate, roasting the beets and segmenting the orange. I would leave the dates out in the future - I love dates but in this dish, they ended up pasty and the flavor did not mesh well with the other fresh flavors. Will definitely make this recipe again!
Pros: Delicious, healthy, filling
Cons: Work-intensive
