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Golden Beet and Pomegranate Salad

Golden Beet and Pomegranate Salad

Now here's a salad for the season. Our neighbor Pat stopped me yesterday and handed me a recipe for a beet and pomegranate salad that she had pulled from an old issue of Sunset magazine. (Thank you, Pat!) Perfect timing, as the pomegranates on our tree are bursting with ripeness. The Sunset recipe called for using regular beets, but golden beets are much prettier mixed in with the pom seeds. Here's my version of the recipe:

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Golden Beet and Pomegranate Salad

Ingredients

3 golden beets (can use regular red beets if you want, just not as pretty)
1 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth
3 tablespoons Triple Sec or other orange-flavored liqueur
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 cup pomegranate seeds
Salt
2 cups arugula and butter lettuce leaves
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Method

1 Cook the beets - either boil them for 45 minutes or roast them at 375°F for an hour. Let cool. Peel and dice into 1/2 inch cubes.

2 In a 10 to 12-inch nonstick frying pan over high heat, boil beets, onion, vinegar, broth, liqueur, sugar, and orange peel, stirring often, until liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, or chill airtight up to 1 day.

3 Stir pomegranate seeds into the beet mixture and salt to taste. Serve on top of salad greens on individual plates. Sprinkle with feta cheese.

Serves 4.

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9 Comments

Is there something you can substitute for the chicken broth to make this dish suitable for vegetarians?

Posted by: Britt on November 9, 2005 7:50 AM

Hi Britt - Sure. Use vegetable broth.

Posted by: Elise on November 9, 2005 8:38 AM

Perfect! This is the recipe I didn't know I was looking for to take to my work's lunch pot luck. Thanks! I love beets they are so underrated.

Posted by: Lisa on November 9, 2005 11:35 AM

This really does sound wonderful. It has some of my favorite foods, especially feta and arugula. I am quite jealous to read that you have pomegranate trees!

Posted by: Kalyn on November 9, 2005 12:55 PM

Elise, I used to like you. Then you post this sentence - as the pomegranates on our tree are bursting with ripeness.

You have pomegranate trees? That's just not fair.

Great recipe, though!

Posted by: barrett on November 9, 2005 3:19 PM

Hi Lisa - what a great idea for a potluck! The best thing is that people who claim they don't like beets will eat this not even knowing that they are beets.

Hi Kalyn and Barrett - Our (one) tree is gorgeous this time of year. Too bad some thieves came in the night last month and stripped the tree of all the poms within reach. Not a good idea to have one of these trees in your front yard.

Posted by: Elise on November 9, 2005 3:36 PM

What a beautiful salad! I can't wait to try it asap. In my family we have a traditional holiday salad with pomagranate seeds and hard persimmons; this looks like a fantastic alternative (and maybe this will convince my guy that beets aren't all bad).

Posted by: Georgia on November 9, 2005 7:52 PM

Any substitution for the liquer or Triple Sec? Orange juice perhaps? I'm always interested in a unique and different dish like this one. Thank you for posting it.

Posted by: guinie on April 1, 2007 12:56 AM

Wow, I love it, as soon as my beets are ready to pull I'll definitely be making this. I've got some awesome Merveille des Quatres Saisons (lettuce) growing right now too, how exciting!
It's great to see pomegranates too, a lot of people don't even know what it tastes like nor how to use them.
Thanks so much for the recipe : )

Posted by: Rolley on October 28, 2009 4:34 PM

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