My favourite colours are purple and maroon. They are such warm and inviting colours. When making or choosing your food, you are often attracted to food that is full of warm colours. I have a theory that people are also often attracted to eat food that are in their favourite colours. I know that theory works for me. I love the majority of purple and maroon food, such as red cabbage, beetroot, pomegranates, red meat, aubergine and berries.
I therefore have devised my own maroon salad that I hope you enjoy. I am a big fan of quinoa and use it as a substitute for couscous or rice as it is claimed that it is much healthier and has a high content of protein. So, marrying up quinoa with maroon fruit and vegetables was a no brainer!
Quinoa originated from South America around 3000-4000 years ago. Several millennia later when the Spanish were trying to colonise the areas where quinoa is cultivated they desperately tried to stop it from being grown as they thought it was the ‘food of Indians’. Thankfully the Spanish didn’t fully succeed and we are now able to buy it in our supermarkets.
When creating this salad I used ideas from a salad – which used similar ingredients – that I ate in the kosher restaurants in Amsterdam and Israel during my summer holiday. I also wanted to incorporate some of the flavours we are accustomed to at this time of year.
Ingredients:
400g cooked quinoa
70g beetroot salad
70g pomegranate seeds
40g cranberries
6-10 caramelised pecans
Dressing:
10g honey
15g balsamic vinegar
20g pomegranate molasses
20g avocado oil (or olive oil)
1 squeeze of lemon juice
Sprinkle of salt
Method:
In a bowl add all the ingredients except the caramelised pecans and mix well. In a separate container mix all the dressing ingredients. Pour over the main ingredients and mix well. Finally add the pecan on top for decoration.
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