Quinoa and Sweet Potato Salad
This sweet potato and quinoa salad is ready in no time. A bright and colourful taste explosion which, when filled in a jar, is the ideal snack on the go and which features baked sweet potato, warm quinoa and fresh baby leaf spinach as well as a bit of sweetness courtesy of pomegranate seeds and honey. Enjoy!
I've created this really simply prepared and quick little salad for dm drogerie markt österreich. I really like the combination of sweet potato, refreshing pomegranate seeds, baby leaf spinach and the rather filling quinoa.
The pomegranate is a great piece of fruit. It is extraordinary, makes any salad look beautiful and spruces up many a dreary winter's day. Its red peel is a bit leathery and the inside contains juicy seeds.
Interesting piece of trivia I hadn't been aware of until now: the city of Granada in southern Spain was named in honour of the pomegranate!
The fruit has a subtly acidic to sweetish taste and a strong aroma. The seeds contain tons of vitamin C, minerals and tannins as well as a high number of antioxidants, which protect our bodies from free radicals and support the immune system.
The seeds don't just taste good in savoury salads, but also in fruit salads and drinks like punch or sparkling wine. They are used widely in hearty oriental dishes as well.
This particular salad creation is chock full of healthy ingredients. Spinach for example is low on calories and provides many vitamins - vitamin B, beta-carotene, vitamin C and folic acid. In addition, it features minerals like phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron in abundance.
Like a wise old saying goes: spinach spares you half the pharmacy.
Quinoa and Sweet Potato Salad
4 Portions
Ingredients:
- 125g tricolore quinoa
- 1 pomegranate
- 2 handfuls fresh baby spinach
- 4 TBSP almonds
- 2 spring onions
- ½ bunch fresh mint or coriander
- 1-2 sweet potatoes
- 1 TBSP honey or maple syrup
- 2 TBSP sesame seeds
- ½ lemon
- 400-500ml water (for the quinoa)
- 3 TBSP olive oil
- 1 tsp honey or maple syrup
- 4-6 TBSP rice vinegar
- salt and pepper
- plain yoghurt
Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan) or 200°C (upper/lower). Peel the sweet potato(es) and cut into 1cm cubes. Put the sweet potato on a baking sheet lined with parchment, drizzle with olive oil and honey/maple syrup, sprinkle with salt and the sesame seeds and bake in the oven on the middle rack for around 25 minutes or until the sweet potato chunks have turned golden.
- Rinse the quinoa in a strainer under running water until it runs clear, then boil water in a pan and let the quinoa simmer for around 20 minutes. Quinoa in einem Sieb unter fließendem Wasser so lange waschen, bis das Wasser klar abläuft. Dann Quinoa im kochenden Wasser ca. 20 Minuten kochen lassen. Mix in the saffron.
- In the meantime, wash and finely slice the spring onions and wash, shake dry, pick and finely chop the fresh mint/coriander. Finely chop the almonds. Halve the pomegranate and extract the seeds. Juice the lemon. Wash and shake dry the spinach. Add all ingredients to a large bowl.
- Drain the cooked quinoa, take the sweet potatoes out of the oven and let both cool, then combine with the other ingredients. Make your marinade using olive oil, rice vinegar, lemon juice, honey or maple syrup, salt and pepper and drizzle over the salad.
