This pumpkin and spinach salad with quinoa skillfully combines savory pumpkin, fresh spinach, luscious green apple, crunchy walnuts, sweet and tart pomegranate seeds and nutty quinoa. A wonderful dish for the pumpkin season in autumn, but also throughout the rest of the year.
This delicious salad can be eaten hot or cold. It is a healthy and filling meal that can be enjoyed at all times of the day. Above all it can be cooked in no time. It is ready in less than 30 minutes, making it the perfect meal after a long work day.
Although this salat is ideal as a main course it also works as an appetizer, side dish or for a party buffet. You can prepare it as takeaway to work the next day.
The pumpkin and spinach salad with quinoa is a veggie power package
This salat has a lot to offer. Pomegranate’s red superfood seeds are considered one of the healthiest fruits in the world when it comes to health and nutrients. Containing polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins C and K and flavonoids, the small, red seeds are a real all-rounder. In addition they have an antioxidant effect on the body and protect against harmful environmental influences. On top of that they have an anti-inflammatory effect and slow down the aging process.
The pseudocereal Quinoa provides a large amount of protein and serotonin. The green apple contains over 30 vitamins and trace elements, like Potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and iron. Walnuts have a very high content of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids and contain vitamins E and B. Pumpkin and spinach are important suppliers of vitamins such as beta-carotene (as a precursor of vitamin A). But they also contain minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron.
All in all, this salad is perfect for a healthy, balanced diet and tastes incredibly delicious. I got my inspiration for this salat from the website Springlane. On their blog they posted a very similar salad with sweet potatoes instead of pumpkin. So if pumpkin season is over, you can substitute the pumpkin with sweet potato perfectly.
If you have leftover pumpkin after cooking this recipe, check out our other recipes containing pumpkin. For example try out our juicy pumpkin chickpea burger with pomegranate or our exotic Thai Massaman curry.
Pumpkin Spinach Salad with Quinoa
Ingredients
For the salad
- 400 g pumpkin
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp paprika powder
- 70 g quinoa
- 1 green apple
- 1 handful walnuts
- 1/2 pomegranate
- 100 g fresh baby spinach
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- salt and pepper
For the dressing
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp agave syrup
- 1 tbsp sweet mustard
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cut the pumpkin into small cubes and mix in a bowl with oil, paprika powder, salt and pepper. Put the pumpkin cubes on a baking tray and bake in the oven at 200 °C (390 °F) for about 20 minutes.
- Cook quinoa according to the package instructions. Afterwards fry in a pan with a little bit of oil and season with salt, pepper and cinnamon.
- Cut the apple into fine slices. Remove the pomegranate seeds. It is best to fill a large bowl with water and remove the seeds under water. Sort out the bitter yellow skin.
- Chop the walnuts and wash the spinach thoroughly. Put all ingredients for the salat into a nice bowl.
- For the dressing, mix all ingredients in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the salad and mix. Enjoy while still warm.
Nutritions
If you liked this recipe for Pumpkin Spinach Salad with Quinoa you may also like one of these other salad or starter recipes:
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