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Sweet Rhubarb & Pomegranate Orange Dressing + Salad

My 2017 New Year’s Resolution was to eat more whole foods, eliminate the time spent at restaurants, and focus on happiness. I can proudly say I have accomplished those things. I can count the number of times spent at restaurants on both hands, I’ve spent more time cooking delicious and nutritious meals at home, I’ve been much kinder to my body when it comes to fitness, and honestly, I’ve never been happier. There have been other factors in my overall happiness, but I feel like I’ve finally made it to a good place. ♥

One thing I love is going to healthy restaurants. I’m obsessed with places that offer unique wholesome foods, farm-fresh produce, giant salads, juices, and fun superfood ingredients. It’s the small things that make me happy, and I’ve always been obsessed with color. Healthy food is colorful and beautiful. I make it a point to stop at healthy restaurants when I’m on vacation because I love trying out new and exciting recipes. I get a lot of my inspiration from places I’ve traveled to.

But when I’m home, it’s back to those goals of eating at home, so I try to bring the healthy restaurant experience to my own table. Luckily, I have a boyfriend who enjoys healthy eating as much as I do, so it’s not much of a challenge. Now that spring is pretty much here to stay in the South; the farmer’s markets are finally open and in full force. I love stopping by to fill my fridge up with ingredients for healthy salads, roasted veggies, grilled veggies, or fresh juices and smoothies. This summer, I’m going to bring a ton of new and fresh recipes to the blog complimentary of the local farmers market.
Over the weekend, I put together a lunch salad with some of the leftover produce I had in the fridge. We had our salad with a side of chicken and sweet potato chili. I think the more colorful, the better.

While I was cleaning out the cupboards on Saturday morning, I found my glass salad dressing bottles. They were shoved in the back of the spice cabinet. I couldn’t wait to fill them up with my own salad dressing. Making homemade dressing is fun, and they always taste better than the store-bought ones.

I have created a spring & summer recipe list for the blog, and a salad dressing post is coming up! I’ll be making four farm-fresh salad dressings, but for today, I’m just sharing one I made recently that you’ll definitely want to make at home! It’s unique, flavorful, and I can’t get enough! 
When I was at the farmer’s market last week, I saw a giant stack of rhubarb. I haven’t cooked with rhubarb in a while, and it made me think about my grandpa. My grandpa used to grow a ton of it in his garden, and he’d make rhubarb pie! It was his specialty. Until I get that recipe, I won’t attempt to make my own. I decided to grab a bunch, not knowing what I was going to make with it yet.

When I found the dressing bottles on Saturday afternoon, I rummaged through my fridge and pulled out a ton of random ingredients for the dressing. It was then that I decided to use the rhubarb!

 

Sweet Rhubarb & Pomegranate Orange Dressing

5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Course Salad

Ingredients
  

  • 1/4 Cup Chopped Rhubarb
  • 1/2 Small Shallot
  • 2 Garlic Cloves
  • 1/2 Cup Light Olive Oil (+2 for sautéing)
  • 2 Tbsps Pomegranate Seeds
  • 3 Tbsps Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 2 Tbsps Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1 Large Orange
  • 1/4 Cup Honey (or agave if vegan)
  • 1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
  • 1 Tsp Black Pepper
  • 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 Tsp Onion Powder
  • 2 Tsps Ground Mustard
  • 1 Tsp Dill Weed
  • 1 Tsp Oregano

Instructions
 

  • Heat a pan on medium-high heat with two tablespoons of olive oil. Add chopped garlic and shallots. Sautee for one minute, and then add the chopped rhubarb. 
  • While the rhubarb is sauteeing, squeeze the juice from the orange into a blender. Add the olive oil, pomegranate seeds, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, honey, sea salt, dill, oregano, ground mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and sea salt.  
  • Once the rhubarb is slightly browned and softened, add it (with the remnants in the pan) to the blender. 
  • Continue to pulse the blender in two-second increments until the rhubarb is blended.
  • Taste the dressing with a spoon to determine if it needs more honey or spices. 
  • Keep refrigerated & shake well before using. 

I massaged the kale with the sweet rhubarb and pomegranate orange dressing before adding the toppings. I added leftover sauteed rhubarb (tossed in honey to tone down the tart), avocados, cucumber, leftover pomegranate seeds, pecans, white peaches, red onions, and orange slices.
I would normally add some hard boiled eggs or a grilled protein, but we had chicken & sweet potato chili on the side. Kale salads and healthy chili go perfectly together.
What I love about healthy restaurants is trying out new juices or smoothies with lunch. It’s not something I usually do at home because of all the work. Lately, I’ve been making them in advance at home with the extra produce from the week. This little juice had kale, wheat grass, white peaches, lime, cucumber, and ginger. I shared a couple of other juices on my Insta-story yesterday! 🙂
Since we’re already on the topic of salads, I thought I’d share a fun way to add extra crunch to them. I keep a lot of toppings in containers in my cupboards, which I’ll share soon! One of my favorite combos is the dried chickpeas, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds tossed with falafel seasoning! 
I’ve been all about the fresh food and big salads this week 🙂 You can find the details on the salad above on this post! And if you’re eyeballing that chicken, check out my latest recap post to see what (no sugar added/organic) sauces I used.

Questions for you!

  1. Do you love the healthy restuarant expereince?
  2. Do you make your own salad dressings?
  3. What recipes do you make with rhubarb?

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Comments

  1. I love strawberry rhubarb bread! I remember when I was younger and my mom made it I bit off a piece of rhubarb like it was celery and was very disappointed 😂. I never make my own salad dressing but I want to. And I love healthy restaurants because you don’t have to substitute this and that or take a bunch of things away-everything is healthy as is!

    Reply

  3. 5 stars
    I am SO Happy that YOU are happy with your life, with your fitness and the fact that you’re eating more homecooked meals instead of eating out! How much $ do you think you’ve saved?

    1. I LOVE healthy restaurant experiences and go out of my way to search up their menus before I commit to going.
    2. I DO make my own dressings! Usually storebought ones are loaded with hydrogenated oils.
    3. I on’t eat rhubarb xD

    Reply

    • Thanks, Linda!

      I don’t know the exact number but I’m sure it’s a lot! I don’t go out for afternoon lattes anymore or really spend all the money dine out.

      That’s a great idea~ I do that sometimes because I’m so indecisive and I want to know what I’m getting before I get there or it takes me forever lol

      It’s sooooo good!:D

      Reply

  5. I love finding cool new restaurants when I’m on vacation, I love finding restaurants that have new flavor combos I’ve never tried or new veggies or something I normally wouldn’t try at home. Like you said, it’s great for getting new ideas. I like to try new things when I cook at home but sometimes I’m afraid that I’ll buy a big bunch of veggies or something and end up not liking them.

    I’ve never tried to make my own salad dressing, but I would like to try soon! Maybe this will be my first attempt! I love asian inspired salads and this would be a great dressing instead of the usual sesame ginger!

    I’ve never cooked myself with rhubarb, but my mom grows it in her garden and makes jam, muffins, cookies, and pies with it, they are all so good!

    Reply

    • Hi, Meghan!

      Yes! That’s true. I typically stick to what i know, but I have found that Blue Apron has introduced me to a lot of new veggies that I’ve ended up LOVING! That helps me too.

      Yes, I want to try to make a carrot ginger dressing next!

      MMMMMM your mom knows what’s up!

      Reply

  7. This salad looks so pretty and yummy! Sounds silly but for some reason making my own salad dressing has always intimidated me (makes no sense because I love cooking) but I’m going to have to give this one a try. Love love love roasted chickapeas and pumpkin seeds on my salads. I always have to have something crunchy to keep the texture interesting. Lately I’ve been making oven roasted turmeric pepitas (pumpkin seeds whatever you want to call them) and they have been so good as a salad topper or by the handful.

    Reply

  10. I’m so jealous that the farmers markets are already open there! Ours doesn’t open until April, and things don’t really show up in full swing until well into the summer. I envy places that have year round markets, that’d be our DREAM!

    I love the heathy food experience and lucky for us, there are SO many options for that here in Boulder. But I also love a solid burrito the size of my head so… balance :).
    I need to make my own dressings! It’s so easy, there’s really no excuse not to.
    I’ve honestly never made anything with rhubarb. It’s not an ingredients I see a lot here, but I LOVE strawberry rhubarb pie! If you find that recipe… share!

    Reply

    • Hi, Susie!

      Sounds like you and Ben should just pack up and move down south then!

      But, how could you leave Boulder? That is on my list to visit!

      Hahaha A strawberry rhubarb pie would be a great one to add to my blog for the summer!!

      Reply

  12. Hi Taralynn,
    How did you know you had endometriosis prior to a diagnosis? Also what has helped you deal with a flare up, if anything?

    I think I have it as well 🙁

    Reply

    • Hi, Trina!

      I had the worst cramps and the worst cycles.

      I had no idea that it could have been endometriosis until my doctor brought it up and I was tested for it.

      I’m still trying to find solutions right now but I may end up having a surgical procedure to remove it. I’ll hopefully be able to post soon about it when I figure it all out myself.

      Right now, eliminating dairy (recs from my doc) has seemed to ease up some of the symptoms of pms, but it’s fairly new.

      I highly recommend talking to your doctor and coming up with a solution!

      Reply

  16. Excited to hear about this chili recipe!

    I like to toss romaine and grilled chicken with parmesan and olive oil! I’ve been doing that since you posted the same five years ago.

    Reply

  17. I make my homemade dressing all the time. My family and friends are always asking for it!

    I use fresh sauteed blueberries, white balsamic vinegar, chopped garlic, honey, olive oil, salt, pepper, and poppy seeds!

    Reply

  22. Your life is so inspiring.

    Thank you for sticking to your roots and bringing us realistic content and unique recipes.

    I love your blog Tara

    Reply

  26. Hi Taralynn,

    I love seeing your beautiful photos! I often get stuck in a salad rut… same ingredients on repeat, so I love popping in for new inspiration 🙂

    I live near the beach, so there’s plenty of healthy restaurant options and I love finding the hidden gems!

    I’m about half and half with homemade and store-bought salad dressings. I need to get me some of those handy bottles! At the moment I have to mix it up in a bowl -.-

    Rhubarb is on my to try list!

    Thanks for the beautiful post, as always! Looking forward to the spring/summer recipes!

    Reply

    • Hi, Meghan!

      Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words! 😀

      Ahhhhh you’re so lucky! I want to move by the beach so bad.

      The hidden gems are the best! I got those bottle at Hobby Lobby for SO CHEAP! They sell all kinds.

      xo xo xo

      Reply

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