It’s important to get the most of the fruits and vegetables while they are in season and right now this is my favourite seasonal salad. The combination of the pumpkin, pomegranate and crunchy spinach leaves is sweet and refreshing at the same time. What makes this salad amazing is the honey-balsamic vinaigrette! I make quite a lot of salads with this vinaigrette lately and I am absolutely obsessed with it. The honey slightly neutralises the taste of the balsamic vinegar and creates and amazing flavour that is not too sweet or sour.
The other main player in this salad is the soft goats’ cheese. Obliviously you can skip if it if you are vegan but if you are a cheese lover like me, you don’t want to miss it! You can just add it to the salad fresh or if you want to make it extra special you can quickly warm it up. In order to do this just place it onto a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven for about 10 minutes (200°C / 390°F) or until the cheese melts and begins to brown.
The salad is quite bright and colourful and therefore very nutritious. It’s also quite filling and I love having it as a main, it makes the perfect light dinner. Enjoy!
And since you will be using pumpkin for this salad why not cook some extra and make one of these delicious sweet pumpkin recipes:
Roasted Pumpkin with Maple Rum glaze & nuts
No bake Pumpkin Cream Chocolate cookies
Simple Pumpkin oat energy bars
Ingredients
- seeds from half a pomegranate
- 1 cup cubed roasted pumpkin or butternut squash
- about 4 cups of fresh spinach, around 100 g
- 100 g goats' cheese (one large round piece)
- For the vinaigrette:
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- To cook the pumpkin, just place the pieces in a small baking dish and bake in a preheated oven at 200°C / 390°F for 25 min. Alternatively you can place the pumpkin pieces in a saucepan, cover with boiling water and cook until they are tender.
- (optional) You can also warm up the cheese while your pumpkin is cooking in the oven by placing it onto a baking sheet and bake until the cheese melts and begins to brown
- Once your pumpkin is cooked leave it to cool for a bit.
- In a small bowl whisk the ingredients for the vinaigrette, don't worry if the oils are slightly separated.
- Mix the rest of the ingredients in a big salad bowl. Drizzle the vinaigrette and mix again.