Although it’s starting to get colder now, one good thing about this time of the year is that pomegranates are out in full force and I love them – on yogurt, oatmeal, by themselves and now in salads. They are a bit of work to get the arils (the red seeds that you eat) out of the actual fruit, but trust me, it is worth it. Not only for the taste, but the antioxidants, fibre and vitamin C, that they supply. I just recently discovered that the juicier and better pomegranates are the heavier ones, so make sure you look for heavy pomegranates vs just the colour of the fruit.
I had some baby spinach left in the fridge and did some googling. I stumbled across this recipe which I based my salad on. I threw in walnuts, pears, tofu for some extra protein (for baby gb), and cut up pieces of a babybel cheese. I did a slight modification on the vinaigrette used in the other recipe by using raspberry balsamic vinegar rather than just balsamic. It was delish! To go along with the salad, I thought a creamy pumpkin potato lentil soup would be great – so I’ve added that recipe here. So good as well, especially on a cold, dreary day. The colour alone will brighten your day.
Salad Ingredients:
- Baby Spinach, rinsed and drained
- 1 pear, rinsed and cut up
- handful of pomegranate arils
- handful of cut up tofu (optional, had some leftover BBQ tofu)
- walnut pieces
- babybel cheese, cut up (optional, feta would be good here)
Honey Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette:
- Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar (I used the Maille brand)
- touch of honey
- touch of olive oil
- salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
Directions:
- Add all salad ingredients into a bowl
- In a small bowl, add the vinegar (I didn’t measure but was probably about 2 tbsp), and a touch of honey. Whisk together.
- Drizzle a small amount of olive oil and whisk to combine. Add salt & pepper.
- Pour over salad and mix. Enjoy your salad!
Creamy Pumpkin Potato Lentil Soup
A super easy soup to whip up, so long as you have a freshly roasted pumpkin (or frozen puree or canned pumpkin puree).
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 carrots, peeled & diced
- 3 medium white potatoes, peeled & cut in cubes
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 7 cups water (or veggie broth)
- 1/2 cup brown lentils (or any lentil)
- 1/2 of a roasted baking pumpkin (or frozen pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin puree)
- Pinch of dried sage
- Salt, freshly ground black pepper, red chili flakes to taste
Directions:
- Add olive oil to soup pot over medium heat. When heated, add onion, carrots and potatoes. Let cook for about 10 minutes until veggies begin to soften. Add in minced garlic, salt, pepper, chili flakes and sage about halfway through.
- Pour in the water and add the lentils. Stir together and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, add in pumpkin and simmer for about 35-40 minutes.
- Using a hand immersion blender (or blender), puree soup to creamy and enjoy!
