Merry Christmas ~ Three Kings Salad

One of our favorite salads for Christmas is called a Three Kings Salad. It fuses a colorful group of three of the season’s best and tastiest :). I was inspired by the original recipe, which can be found at MyRecipes.com, but I added and omitted ingredients to our taste. It is forgiving, so use whatever you like. If you like less orange or more onion, that’s fine. Make it yours :). Honestly, we kind of changed one of the “kings” from red onion to pomegranate seeds. I only used a tiny bit of onion for garnish, since neither Rob nor I are big raw onion fans, and I used a ton of pomegranate seeds since we love them! Is there anything more festive than roasted beets and pomegranate seeds? I don’t know what it is about those two, but it just feels like a holiday to me! Both take a wee bit of work to prepare, so they feel like food for a special occasion.

Three Kings Salad

4 seedless oranges

3 or 4 beets…One big bunch

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus a little more to drizzle over the beets

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

1/4 cup thinly slivered red onion

Pomegranate seeds from ½ of the fruit

Preheat your oven to 375. Trim the beets of their greens, drizzle with a little olive oil and wrap tightly in tin foil. Roast for 45 to 55 minutes (depending on the size of your beets) or until they can be pierced with a fork. Let them cool. Preferably with some sort of thin disposable gloves so you don’t dye your fingers, peel the outside and cut into wedges.

Peel and section oranges over a bowl with a knife so none of the pith or membrane remains. Squeeze the extra juice into the bowl when finished. Set the orange sections aside and reserve about 2 tablespoons of the juice.

Combine the reserved 2 tablespoons of orange juice, vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl and whisk well.

Divide the beets, oranges, pomegranate seeds and onion evenly among 4-6 salad plates, depending on the size salad you would like to serve. Drizzle with as much of the vinaigrette as you like.

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas!

4 replies
  1. Rob
    Rob says:

    While enjoying this incredible salad, I had to comment about it. It is without question, one of my favorite “salads” that is more like desert in that (with onions removed) is simply delicious. The oranges and pomegranate seeds burst with full flavor, with crunchy delicate beets beneath. Ever since we discovered pomegranate seeds, Chef Laura always finds new ways to use them with pleasant surprise. They’re a real treat and add a touch of elegance that takes this beyond the usual “salad.” Yum. Yum.
    Make this salad for the holidays. You simply won’t be disappointed.

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