I was really excited to make this salad. It’s been a rough few weeks and I needed some super healthy food as a pick-me-up. We are on the tail end of a very cold spell here in the Midwest. Mr. FBBQ and I also had to say goodbye to one of our cats, the very special Onion. She got cancer and it spread quickly. We miss her so much and our hearts are broken. OK-I don’t want to start crying so I’m going to talk salad with y’all instead! Let’s do this!
We need greens. Obviously. I had some baby arugula on hand. I bought baby spinach and micro SUPER MIX (because it’s super). We also need some Brussels Sprouts, baby carrots (or shredded carrots), a red onion, and pomegranate arils (I am a sucker for making a mess so I bought the whole pomegranate and removed the arils by hand. The kitchen looked like a crime scene.) We also need some tri-color quinoa. For the dressing we need Dijon mustard, maple syrup, balsamic vinegrette, pomegranate juice, and sea salt. You will notice in the picture above I had regular balsamic vinegrette. I forgot I had a blueberry pomegranate vinegrette (pictured below) that I opted to use instead!
The dressing is super easy to make. Whisk together the pomegranate juice, mustard, sea salt, maple syrup, and vinegrette.
Set the dressing aside. Cook the quinoa. While the quinoa is cooking we can chop up the veggies. I had some celery on hand from another recipe so I added that in with the carrots. I also chopped up some cucumber, the red onion, and some little tomatoes. I don’t know why but I never feel like a salad is complete without tomatoes.
While you are chopping, steam the Brussels Sprouts.
The greens will be the base for the dish.
Add the chopped veggies.
Slice up the Brussels Sprouts and add them to the mix. Then comes the quinoa, pomegranate arils, and some toasted seeds for crunch!
Lastly, add the dressing and enjoy!!