Superfood Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

This may be the prettiest salad I have ever seen. And perhaps the most delicious. It took a bit of time to make (longer than expected), but it was more than 100% worth it. I was put off by the amount of oil in the dressing - 6 tablespoons - but it is really quite tasty. I had never fully seeded a pomegranate before, but I used the water method (breaking it open under water and letting the seeds fall to the bottom) and it worked really well. Does take some time though. Anyway, JUST MAKE THIS! It will be well worth your time.
(Note: this recipe says that it serves 5, but I would say about 3 meal-sized servings. For me anyway.)

Salad:
1/2 cup dry quinoa
1/3 cup red onion, chopped
1 orange, peeled and segments chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup pomegranate arils (about 1 pomegranate worth)
1 cup corn (thawed if frozen, can also use canned)
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper

Lemon Vinaigrette:
2 lemons, juiced (need 1/4 cup juice)
2 garlic cloves, microplaned or finely minced
dash of sweetener (agave nectar, stevia or white sugar)
salt & pepper
6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil


1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Set aside to cool.

2. For the Lemon Vinaigrette: combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid, and shake to combine. Or, add lemon juice, garlic, sweetener, salt and pepper into a small bowl and whisk in oil.

3. Combine cooled quinoa with red onion, orange segments, avocado, beans, pomegranate arils, corn, cilantro, salt and pepper. Pour Lemon Vinaigrette over the salad and stir to combine. Serve cold or at room temperature.


Original recipe here 

Beet and Avocado Salad (Mark Bittman style)

 

I am a horrible person, and I have never cooked beets before. They scare me. However, after tackling the red velvet today, I thought I could handle some red beets.

I bought the beets from Market Basket (aka hell) yesterday, and the only kind they had were called "Candy Cane" beets, and I was curious as to why (they looked normal on the outside, maybe just a bit more pink than most). But, once I cut into them, it was obvious why they were named "Candy Cane!"

 

I am so excited to cook beets more often now that I know how easy they are to cook. Beets are definitely on my list of top 5 favorite foods (maybe I'll actually make one of those someday). MB's recipe called for cooked beets, either boiled or roasted. I chose the roasting method, as MB advised this was the way to get the best flavor. It was great because after roasting them, the skin just peeled off by hand, so there was no messy peeling involved.


Ingredients:

4 small beets or 3 large beets
2 avocados, ripe but firm, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper
one small red onion, diced
1 tarragon leaf, minced (*I bought tarragon and realized it smelled like anise, which I hate, so I left this out)

Heat oven to 400F. Wash beets, wrap in aluminum foil, and place on a baking sheet. Bake the beets for 45-90 minutes, or until a knife can be inserted with light pressure.

Allow beets to cool, then peel skin off (should come off by hand). Chop beets and layer with avocados.

For the vinaigrette, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. According to MB, you need to put this in a blender, but I just stirred by hand and it was fine. Add the onion to 1/2 cup of the vinaigrette, and pour over the salad.


(Recipe from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian")