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So gorgeous! I think I could eat this daily for lunch all through fall and winter, and never tire of it! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Oh my good gravy.
I mean, no gravy. Just pretty Thanksgiving salad. I mean, salad that tastes like gravy. I mean, no, wait, ummm…
Can’t.
Think.
This wild rice salad blows me away.The flavors and colors make me want to cry happy tears. Kind of like the ones that almost came out of my eyes at lunch when I saw this salad awaiting me at the bottom of my lunch bag. It was a beacon of hope and I am 99.3487% sure that angels sang.
If those ruby pomegranate seeds don’t get to you, then you might not be real. The juicy little bursts of bright red are my bestest favoritist produce of winter. Why I haven’t used them more often in recent memory probably has something to do with The Sacrifice of the White Shirt, but all that aside, these little pups are just adorable and juicy-perfect.
Now, kale. I know we normal people all have mixed feelings. But baby kale is where it’s at. If you can do spinach, then baby kale is just one half step up on the weirdo-healthy-person food ladder. You’re like: Lindsay, my family won’t like kale. I PROMISE, almost promise, that they will. Chop it up real small and you get the benefit of the supernutrition and the eye-popping freshness of green without the overwhelming chomp factor. Say yes. Now. In three, two, one, YES.
A few more food thoughts –> The toasted walnuts add crunch. The feta adds feta. And the homemade dressing? It’s just a slight spin off of the homemade dressing from the brussels sprouts salad and it is D-licious.
Use onion or shallot, saute to reduce the bite (or not, if you’re a flavor bite kinda person) and drizzle to your heart’s content.
Let me tell you the beautiful truth: I made this in less than 20 minutes.
And great recipes that are simple + healthy + gorgeous in < 20 minutes = my perfect life.
This is real math, and better yet, real food.
I see this at my Thanksgiving table this year. And every day from now till then and forevermore amen.
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Pomegranate, Kale, and Wild Rice Salad with Walnuts and Feta
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4, as a side 1x
Description
Pomegranate, Kale, and Wild Rice Salad, with walnuts and Feta cheese and a simple homemade dressing. So healthy, so good!
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds
- 2 cups chopped baby kale
- 2 cups cooked wild rice (you can use leftover rice or buy precooked)
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
- 1/4 cup feta cheese (omit for vegans)
For the dressing
- 1/2 cup minced onion or shallot
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons honey (sub agave for vegans)
- 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 squeeze lemon or orange juice
Instructions
- Prep the salad ingredients (chop, rinse, toast, etc). Chill the ingredients in the fridge while you’re making the dressing if you want a cold salad.
- Mince the shallot or onion and saute in 1/2 tablespoons olive oil to reduce the bite. When soft and fragrant, remove from heat and transfer to a food processor. (If you want a stronger flavor for your dressing, skip the sauteing altogether. The shallot in particular works well for this.)
- Pulse the onions or shallot with the remaining olive oil, water, honey, apple cider vinegar, salt, and orange juice until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust. Add additional olive oil or water to keep the mixture moving through the food processor.
- Toss the salad ingredients together with the dressing just before serving. I prefer to serve this at room temperature or chilled slightly.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Lunch
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: thanksgiving salad, healthy salad, kale salad, wild rice salad
Oh my…THIS looks amazing! I have been wanting to try pomegranates, but didn’t really know what to do with them. Can’t wait to try this!
So pretty! I made a rice bowl a couple weeks ago kind of like this, but minus that delicious dressing! I have to give this a try. It looks perfect for Thanksgiving!
I love the color of this salad–perfect for the holidays. (but I wish pomegrantes didn’t cost so much…)
Every every time I am at the grocery store, I almost buy the pomegranate. What’s holding me back? Time to load up and get to those bright juicy jewels inside!
I fully intend to feed this to my fam at Thanksgiving and just not tell them it’s kale. They’ll love it, and then I’ll drop the veggie bomb. Mwhahaha!
Oh, the sweet jewels! you need to.
This looks delicious – I am definitely going to have to try it! If I can’t find wild rice though, what kind of rice do you suggest subbing for?
Good question! I would actually sub something like quinoa or even couscous. Not the same at all texturally as the wild rice, but a better fit than regular brown rice or a rice blend. Wild rice has such a unique flavor and texture though, so try to find it! 🙂 🙂
Love, love, love, this recipe. I was unable to find straight wild rice as well, so I ordered on Amazon. I only cook for 30 minutes for a good crunch. . I do not follow the directions on bag.
I have seen wild rice in Costco, Trader Joes and Whole Foods
Thanks!
You can find wild rice in the Organic section of your grocery store. In a pinch, I use Uncle Ben’s long brain & wild rice, cook as directed with seasoning. My family prefers this combination of rice. Oh, sometimes when I have leftover Pomergrante juice, I will add that to the dressing instead of the water. So delicious!
Lindsay, I love everything about this salad! I can’t wait to find me some baby kale. I too will be making this for our Thanksgiving. Thanks for the recipe!
The color is beautiful, but the combination, that is where it’s at! Thanks for sharing this great recipe and I hope your day is wonderful~
Lindsay, this looks SO good! I love wild rice in salads. And pomegranates. And now I must try baby kale, you’ve convinced me. Yum!
So gorgeous! I think I could eat this daily for lunch all through fall and winter, and never tire of it! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks Christina!
Gorgeous salad! Next time I’m going to a potluck I’l be bringing this!
This is exactly what I’m craving. I’ve been trying to put my finger on it for a couple days now, and then I saw this salad. Perfection.
Awesome!
Look so pretty! I must try.
What a beautiful salad, so many terrific flavors! Definitely need to try this 🙂
Happy Blogging!
Has anyone else hesitated to buy a pomegranate because it’s so hard/messy to get the seeds out? I learned a trick where you quarter it, soak it in cold water for a few minutes, and then remove the seeds UNDER water. Worked like magic. No blood stained looking fingers either. (PS. I was making my own pomegranate flavored vodka, so I had the motivation). This recipe is another motivation to try that trick again – thanks!
Thanks Nadia! I’ve tried that and it works great. This time I didn’t have the patience… just went for it, and it went alright. 🙂 only a few small juice spots on the counter to clean up!
Oh, this looks so good and love all the ingredients. And, I will try Nadia’s pomegranate tip. Thanks Nadia!
This is SO beautifully presented!
Thank you Becca!
This is so colourful and fun! Yum!!
This looks SO good Lindsay, love the colours!! Gorgeous photos too, as usual!
You might want to switch your greater than (>) sign around so that it reads less than (<). I think that's what you were trying to say, right?
This salad looks delicious!
ahahaha! FAIL. changing it now!
YUM! This salad looks delicious. The wild rice and pomegranates are such a good idea to switch up a normal salad!
-Lauren at http://www.lakeshorelady.com
LOL- “the feta adds feta”. God bless the power of cheese!
Exactly!
Gorgeous salad! Yes – this will be on my Thanksgiving table too! Thanks so much Lindsay!
I love all these flavors. This is going on next week’s menu if I can wait that long. I like kale and chard better than spinach. Spinach is kind of wimpy.
Some of my favorite ingredients combined in one salad! I can’t get enough of pomegranate and kale this time of year, and of course I always love feta and walnuts. Yum!
You are too funny! Sometime’s pomegrantes scare me because it takes me so long to get them out. Any suggestions or tricks?
Nope, I have done the submerged-in-water trick before, where you just keep the whole fruit under water as you take the seeds out. It’s supposed to help with sprays and juice stains and the like. But this time, mine actually came out really nicely. I just kind of broke/cut the fruit in half and gently broke the seeds apart into a bowl.
While it may seem like this guy loves the sound of his own voice….it DOES look like an alternatively great idea to get to those pom ‘jewels’.
https://lifehacker.com/deseed-a-pomegranate-in-10-seconds-using-a-wooden-spoon-5895852
BTW Lindsay….I will definitely be making this salad…possibly even in the next 5 minutes…Why? It LOOKS amazing AND YOU ARE HILARIOUS!
You had my at ‘good gravy’. I myself like to at ‘Scott’ to that little phrase. But that’s just me. 🙂
:):)
This is exactly how I get my pom perils out! After seeing this video, I have never used another method! I still get a few fly-aways and juice spots, but it is light-years easier!