Meatless Monday – Paradise garden grain salad with baby spinach and pomegranate

Serves 4

You’ll need: For the dressing – ⅓ cup B-well Extra Virgin Olive Oil; ⅓ cup apple juice; 1 tsp dijon mustard; 2 ½ Tbsp apple cider vinegar/white wine vinegar; ¼ cup mint, finely chopped; salt and pepper, to taste.

For the salad – 1 cup quinoa; ½ cup pomegranates; 2 cups baby spinach, chopped; 2 cups rocket/ baby spinach (your choice); 200g peas (trimmed, stringed, cut in half on diagonal); ½ cup feta/ goat cheese, crumbled; ½ cup walnuts, chopped (optional).

How to: 

To make the dressing:

In a jar or bowl, add all dressing ingredients, replace the lid on the jar and shake or whisk until all ingredients are combined. Store in the refrigerator when ready to use. Shake before use.

To make the salad:

Rinse the quinoa well with cold water and drain through a fine-mesh strainer to remove excess water.

Boil the kettle (will need 1 ½ cups).

Add the rinsed and drained Quinoa into a dry pan, heat to medium. Toast the quinoa lightly until you can smell a nutty flavour, then remove off the heat.

In a pot, add 1 ½ cups boiling water and the toasted quinoa. Replace the lid, leaving a small gap for the steam to release. Cook for about 15 mins, or until all the water is gone. Remove lid and remove from the pot.

Allow the quinoa to cool down for at least 10 mins, then fluff with a fork.

Once the quinoa is cool and fluffed, add the spinach, rocket, pomegranate, cheese and peas.

Shake the Apple mint vinaigrette, and drizzle over salad, toss and serve. Enjoy the zesty, satisfying bite-full of deliciousness.

* Recipe & image by bwellfoods.co.za