My beloved has a thing for pomegranates. Truly. So much so, I reckon if it was me or the fruit I might be out in the cold. Granted, a ripe pomegranate, prized open, is a thing of remarkable beauty. The Ancient Egyptians considered it a symbol of prosperity and the Hebrews had a thing for it in love poetry. While I’m not convinced about the poetry, I do know that keeping my beloved well fed is a proven lure to entice her home each day.

With that in mind, I devised a salad of pomegranate deliciousness. Ok, so maybe I’m not the first off this particular fruit salad block, but it sure is good – light, low in calories and just the right blend of a herby, nutty, sweet and sour.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 pomegranate
• 2 cups of quinoa
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• A generous handful of plump sultanas (certainly not those ones that have been sitting at the back of the cupboard for a decade)
• A nice thick slice of good quality and salty feta cheese, crumbled
• A handful of pine nuts, toasted
• A bulging handful each of fresh coriander leaves, flat leaf parsley and mint, roughly chopped
• A clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 red chili, deseeded and finely diced
• The juice of two large lemons
• Plenty of ground black pepper and sea salt
• 1 tablespoon of sugar

Here’s what you do:

It’s really simple.

First, de-seed your pomegranate. Oh, and if you’ve not done pomegranates before, it’s the sweet ruby seeds you want, not the pithy shell. If you don’t know how to do it, you can watch this.

Second, cook the quinoa according to the directions on the pack. If your quinoa is packetless, simply add to it to about 4½ cups of water and simmer away for fifteen minutes or so. The water will be absorbed and the end result you can fluff with a fork. Once it’s cooked, spread it out on a flat surface and let it steam dry.

In the meantime, combine all remaining ingredients along with the pomegranate seeds and let it ‘infuse’ for ten minutes or so. Then simply add the potion to the quinoa and mix it together.

It’s ready!

Love me, love my pomegranate salad.