Spiced Pumpkin, Broccolini & Pomegranate Salad

This delicious salad is a real party on a plate- spiced roasted pumpkin, crunchy broccolini, sweet juicy corn with fresh radish and parsley- all topped with a wonderfully tart pomegranate vinaigrette. Don’t let the long list of ingredients fool you, the vegetables are easy to prepare and the variety you get on your plate means you’re getting a massive boost of vitamins and nutrients.

I’ve added poached chicken breast to this salad, making it a great week-day lunch that keeps me full and energetic for hours. If you’re thinking this salad is too pretty to stuff into a lunch box, prep it for your next picnic, barbeque or dinner party- the burst of colour and flavour is sure to dazzle your dinner-mates.

A note on the dressing… pomegranate molasses is a little sweet, a little tart, it’s the star of the show here. You can find it at Middle Eastern grocers, gourmet grocers and some supermarkets.

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5 from 1 vote

Spiced Pumpkin, Broccolini & Pomegranate Salad

Roasted pumpkin and charred broccolini with sweet corn and tart pomegranate molasses; this simple salad is a wonderful explosion of colour and flavour

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Servings: 5

Calories: 415kcal

Ingredients

1 large butternut pumpkin diced into 3-4cm cubes
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch broccolini thicker stems sliced thinner so each stem is uniform in size
2 medium red onions chopped roughly into quarters or eighths
3-5 truss tomatoes cleaned and diced
3-5 radish thinly sliced into thin discs
2 corn cobs or 250g frozen corn kernels boiled/microwaved until tender
2-3 chicken breast I used 750g of chicken breast, dice and bring to room temperature before cooking
4-5 handfuls baby spinach washed and dried
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves picked and roughly chopped
100 grams pomegranate seeds
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp maple syrup or honey

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 220°C.
Chop the pumpkin into 3-4cm cubes, combine with all the spices- cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder & ground coriander in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix well, then lay out on baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper. Roast for 25-30 minutes until golden, rotating the trays after 15 minutes
In the meantime, coat broccolini stems in olive oil and salt. Lay out over an oven grilling pan, add to oven and roast for 15 minutes (add these in when you're rotating your pumpkin trays)
Lastly, add the chopped red onion to one of the baking trays in the last 7 minutes of roasting- these will roast really quickly
While the vegetables are roasting & cooling, prepare your raw veggies- dice the tomatoes & slice the radish into thin discs.
Prepare your corn– if using corn on the cob, boil corn for 10 minutes and cut kernels off the cob, otherwise microwave the frozen corn
Poach your chicken: dice the chicken into 3-4cm cubes and bring a large pot of water to boil. Season the water with plenty of salt, add chicken and leave to simmer lightly for 7-8 minutes. Drain from water and once cooled, shred into thinner strips
Throw all your ingredients together, add the spinach and parsley and sprinkle over with pomegranate seeds
The dressing: combine the red wine vinegar, pomegranate molasses and maple syrup in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Optional: add 1-3 tbsp of olive oil to taste.
Drizzle dressing over the salad when ready to serve