I’m still trying to convince Gordie that salads are not something he should automatically reject. He loves fruit salad, so I thought maybe a salad that was heavy on the fruit might be a promising avenue.
Two of my favorite fruits that are great in the winter are oranges and pomegranates and went searching for salad ideas. I found one that even included beets (which I still have a lot of). I toned it down a little to try and make it more attractive to little people, so I took out things like the onions and added pepper only for people who wanted it. The original recipe called for pomegranate molasses, which I was planning on substituting for balsamic vinegar. I happened to have pomegranate balsamic vinegar (seriously!) so I used that but any fruit or regular balsamic vinegar would be fine.
Blood Orange, Yellow Beet and Pomegranate Salad
(adapted from Epicurious Pomegranate, Beet and Blood Orange Salad)
- Seeds from 1 pomegranate
- 4 sweet oranges (blood oranges are nice)
- 3-4 medium yellow or red beets (or a mix of both!)
- Balsamic Dressing
- 2 TBSP balsamic vinegar (fruit flavored or regular)
- 1 TBSP honey (or rogers golden syrup)
- touch of oil
- sprinkle of freshly ground pepper
- Roast beets using your favorite method. I like wrapping them in aluminum foil and then sticking them on a cookie sheet for 45-60 minutes, until a knife easily pierces the centre.
- Let them cool a bit and then take the skin off with a vegetable peeler.
- Cut the beets and oranges up into wedges.
- Add the beets, oranges and pomegranate seeds into a big bowl.
- Stir together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and then pour over the salad ingredients.
Did they eat it?
Gordie (3.5 years): Loved the pomegrante seeds and oranges while we were making the salad. Was actually willing to try the salad, but bit into a piece of beet, exclaimed “it’s a potato!” and would not try it again.
Nicole (10 months): I’m pretty sure she thinks this was the best thing she had ever eaten. If she saw other people eating it she would demand that they share. Huge hit.
Stephen: “Good. Kinda weird”
Dana: This salad was good but it is not the quickest to throw together. Roasting the beets takes a while as does de-seeding the pomegranate. Gordie really loved helping take the seeds out. So I like that even pretty little kids can be involved in making the salad. It was really good though. It would be a great salad to make for a special meal or if you had company over for dinner.
3 down 51 to go.
This looks interesting – I’m not normally a beet fan but I’ve only ever had the regular old red kind. Oh and for de-seeding a pomegranate you cut it in half and whack it with a spoon over a bowl of water…the seeds fall to the bottom and then you can scoop out any of the pulp (it floats) drain the water and you’re done!
I’ll have to try that method again Heather, I’ve not managed to get it to work for me. I usually cut it in half and then split it along the segments and pull the pieces off. It works, but it’s not super fast.
I don’t mind the purple beets, but I like the yellow ones way better. I’m not 100% sure why though.
This looks yummy! It will be interesting to see what my kids think! I’m lazy and I buy pomegranate seeds!
Not sure if I will try this, but shared because others may be very interested. Thank you for sharing with us.