I’m so thrilled that today’s post is post is sponsored by my favorite fruit of all time — those golden, juicy, and delicious Opal apples. Major virtual high five to Opal apples for being amazing to eat and extra-amazing to eat in salads like this one.
You guys, I can’t even.
POMEGRANATES :: RED QUINOA :: PISTACHIOS :: GOAT CHEESE :: PICKLED BEETS IF YOU CAN HANDLE IT :: OPAL APPLES :: BABY SPINACH BUT NOT TOO MUCH BABY SPINACH :: LIGHT CHAMPAGNE VINAIGRETTE.
*head massage emoji*
I need to address something with you, though. As you’re going to see in just a second when you look at this picture, I, uhh, well, I just made my first Mason jar salad.
And it is 2014 almost 2015. And Mason jar salads have been floating around the internet since, um, like, forever ago. And yeah, that just happened for the first time in my kitchen right now today. Maybe I’m a tiny little bit slow on trends. Mayyybe.
Mason jar or no Mason jar, Bjork and I are headed up north for the weekend, meaning that we’re going to eat at two of my favorite Minnesota restaurants (!! I get superexcited about these things) and also meaning that I am chowing down on this Winter Rainbow Quinoa Salad like a champ to get a little extra healthy glow in before our weekend away.
As I was prepping this for the week, I just got hit by the ridiculously, annoyingly cute Mason jar salad inspiration. Two reasons I decided to go for it:
1. FACT: I am a cooler person when I use a Mason jar for anything. It’s just in the laws of nature according to Pinterest and Fancy Girl Life. These are literally the shortest days of the year, I’m feeling like a hibernating Minnesota winter homebody, and so to avoid the deep winter slump I needed to experience some perks of the high life. Enter Mason jar salads.
2. This salad has Opal apples in it, and Opal apples do not brown NO FOR REAL I JUST SAID THAT. Opals are non-GMO, golden, juicy, firm, crispy, delicious apples that do not brown when you cut them. Layer those apples right in the jar and you can stare at it all week long, still looking just and pretty and fresh as the day you assembled it. I pinkie promise you that these pictures were taken four days after I made the salad. 1-2-3-4 days! and still perky and fresh and tasting like nature’s perfect candy.
Ugh, I mean, this is just way too good to be true. (But it’s true.)
Quinoa + salads = not usually my thing, but I made this one my thing by adding goat cheese and pistachios and a new grown-up thing I’m having a phase with — BEETS. But I feel like a traitor for finally coming around, so I don’t really want to talk about that anymore.
I do want to talk about the fact that this is a quinoa salad that really reminds me of a combination of a chopped salad and a spa salad. Just to be clear, I don’t really know what a spa salad is, but in my mind that dreams of spas, it’s a beets/goat cheese/other veggies plate-o-glory. On second thought, that might just be because they serve a salad like that at one of my favorite restaurants and it’s called the Spa Salad. Does that count?
So whatever kind of thing this is, it’s delicious.
It’s loaded with bright green spinach, crispy bites of apple, juicy bursts of pomegranate, crunchy pistachio pieces, creamy-smooth goat cheese with just a little bite from the pickled beets if you’re brave enough for that sort of adult eating. It’s a plate (or MASON JAR) full of healthful, nutritious ingredients that give you tons of winter glow and plant power. Because, umm, yeah, that’s a real thing.
Carry on, Winter Warriors! with a Winter Rainbow Quinoa Salad to power you through.
Winter Rainbow Quinoa Salad
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 individual salads 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
This Rainbow Quinoa Salad is packed with colorful, nutritious ingredients! Works perfect to make ahead in Mason jars for easy lunches.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked red quinoa
- 2 cups chopped pickled or regular cooked beets
- 1 cup pomegranate arils
- 4 ounces goat cheese
- 1/2 cup crushed or chopped pistachios
- 2 cups chopped Opal apples
- 2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach
- a handful of green onions or fresh herbs if you want
- dressing of choice (see notes)
Instructions
- For Mason jar salads, layer in order: 1/2 cup quinoa, 1/2 cup beets, 1/4 cup pomegranate arils, 1 ounce goat cheese, 2 tablespoons pistachios, herbs, 1/2 cup apples, and 1/2 cup spinach. Store in the fridge for as long as 4-5 days. When ready to serve, toss with the dressing.
- If not making in Mason jars, toss everything together and serve immediately. I also recommend saving some pomegranate arils, crushed pistachios, and crumbled goat cheese to make it look pretty on top. 😀
Notes
I used a store-bought Champagne vinaigrette which was so, so delicious with all the salty-sweet-crunchiness in this salad. That being said, there are so many flavors and textures here that just a little olive oil and balsamic would be light and perfect.
Thanks to Opal apples, my favoritest of all the apples, for sponsoring this Winter Rainbow Quinoa Salad!
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of best healthy vegetarian recipes. Check it out!
Great flavors, I love the Mason Jar idea! Love the brightness of this salad, I’m sure it tastes delicious!
Opal apples are my favorite too! Last year I couldn’t find them but last week they were selling them at trader joe’s!!! Kinda sad I now have to “shAre” them with everyone but thrilled they’ll be more available!
No way! Love hearing that TJs has them!
Love this post! And the super colorful salad! I always like mason jar salads and I like how transportable they are.
I love your site and visit regularly- thanks for sharing this recipe! I would like to share a friendly comment: As someone who grew up on a farm, have in-laws who farm and works in agriculture communications today, I’m all too familiar with consumers’ concerns over where their food comes from, how it’s produced and more. While this is not the time or place for a debate over the use of GMOs in modern cropping systems, I would like to point out that no apples on the market today are genetically modified. Currently, there are only eight crops commercially available from GMO seeds in the U.S. Those are: Corn, Soybeans, Cotton, Canola, Alfalfa, Sugar Beets, Papaya and Squash. Indicating that the apples you used in this recipe are non-GMO suggests that other apples on the market today are GMO, which is not the case. Thanks for your time – have a great day! http://gmoanswers.com/explore
Thanks for your input Nicole.
Love this! So pretty!!!
What’s up, I log on to your blog daily. Your writing style is awesome, keep doing what you’re doing!
yum! love the fruity flavors incorporated because that means the quinoa will be far less bland. thanks so much for sharing an amazing recipe! xx. gigi. http://www.gigikkitchen.com
So many healthy & tasty colors! I’ve been getting more into quinoa lately, further inspiration along that path.
Lindsay, you got me lots of compliments last night when I brought this salad to a Christmas party in Slovenia. Now everybody wants the recipe (and the Slovenes loved the quinoa–they hadn’t had it before) Thanks for such a delicious/healthy/beautiful Christmas side 🙂
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I’m so glad! Thanks Christine!
So, this is totally random and not in the least related to this post….but I wasn’t really sure where to post it! All of the info that you’ve shared about how you “do” blogging has been so helpful for me-photography, SEO, etc., etc., ad nauseum. I am so impressed by the number of recipes that you are able to turn out. I am lucky to do two recipe posts a week (I also do restaurant reviews, so that helps with posting frequency). I’d love for you to outline how you develop and test recipes while keeping up a regular blogging schedule. Thanks-and merry Christmas!
Thanks Mary! That’s a great idea for a post! 🙂
I like quinoa, but right now I really feel it’s overdone. Sometimes a perfectly fine ingredient gets over blogged. Of course I am not talking about chocolate. That is one ingredients that is impossible to over blog. Kale fell in that category for me. But you have done a great job of making a festive red and green salad full of different textures and flavors. So well done.
Made this and served it for Christmas dinner… ❤️❤️❤️
Yay! Thanks Kiran.
Wow this salad looks so colorful and amazing! Beautiful and healthy perfect combo.
That pomegranate! Those apples! LOVE!
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Thanks Mary!
I made this sans quinoa to bring as a side for Christmas dinner and then loved it so much I made it again with the quinoa last night for a festive-looking (and healthy) New Years Eve dinner for me and the hubs. Such a yummy combo of ingredients!
Thanks for the comment – I’m so glad to hear that you liked it Susan!
This looks sooo good!
Shopping for this salad was an emotional roller coaster. First, I went to the store anticipating that they would not have Opal apples. Then! Joy of Joys! They had the Opal apples! My elation was quickly stifled by the realization that they were out of pomegranates. So, I went to a second store and they had a stand for pomegranates, but sadly, they had only one, slightly mushy one left. So, in a desperate attempt for color, I bought cranberries. *sigh*
Oh, Monday.
Oh sad! But I hope you love the Opals! 🙂
The Opals are amazing! And the salad was still delicious! Thanks for posting such delicious and beautiful recipes!
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This salad is as good as it is beautiful looking. I left out the beets (Yuk). Hate them, but the salad still good The combinations of flavors is awesome. I will be making this over and over!!!!!!
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That’s awesome! I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks so much Georgia!
I made this last night but with feta and used a balsamic vinaigrette. It was SOOOOOO good! I couldn’t get over all the yummy flavors and textures. I made a bowl for my hubby when he got home and he gobbled it down and said it I wanted to make it again this week he would be more than ok with it. Can’t wait until lunchtime to eat some more of it, thanks for a yummy salad!
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That’s awesome! I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks so much Jamie!
This salad is so delicious. I’m really not a salad person…I usually force myself to buy one during my lunch break, get bored halfway through, and then finish off with a handful of candy. But its a new year and I’m determined to remind to my pre-BBQ-MN State Fair -Roadtrip-Thanksgiving-Christmas weight, and this bad boy has been keeping me happy for 4 days now. Highly recommend! DO NOT skip the pickled beets!
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Oh my gosh, love this comment. So glad you liked it Olivia!
Love the idea of a Christmas salad. This will really dress up my menu (when it’s my year to cook). I was hoping to add an Opal Apple to our orchard. I did not find what zone they are hardy to. I did find there are 2 varieties; one out of the Czech republic in 1999 and one called “Essex UK 1936) – any thoughts? (from zone 4 western MN)
Hi there,
Love your site I get of it inspiration for healthy veggie meals
i have 2 questions
1) I want to make this Salad for the week – what’s best of storing each portion without Mason jars Toledo it fresh?
2) if can’t find opal apples what else can I use?
Look forward to hearing from you soon
Many thanks Deepa
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Hi there,
Love your site I get of it inspiration for healthy veggie meals
i have 2 questions
1) I want to make this Salad for the week – what’s best way of storing each portion without Mason jars to keep salad fresh?
2) if can’t find opal apples what else can I use?
Look forward to hearing from you soon
Many thanks Deepa
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I would use Honeycrisp apples! And you can store this is any container. 🙂 The mason jars are just nice for seeing all the layers!
*Pinned. This looks fabulous and so easy to pop in the lunch bag for lunch.
I love this! I’ve been trying to fit in more winter salads, and this one looks totally delicious. Yum!