Vegan Christmas Salad

This festive vegan Christmas salad is the perfect side dish to serve with your holiday meal! Loaded with arugula, nutty wild rice, roasted pecans, juicy pomegranate arils, green onions, tart dried cherries, and tangy garlic dijon dressing; this hearty gluten-free salad is a major crowd pleaser!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 45

Cooling Time 30

Total Time 1 20

Servings servings

Calories 194kcal

Author Stacey Eckert

Equipment

Medium Pot
Large Mixing Bowl
Small Bowl

Ingredients

Salad

1 cup uncooked wild rice
5 oz baby arugula roughly chopped
1 cup pomegranate arils
1 cup green onions sliced
1 cup roasted pecans roughly chopped
1 cup dried cherries

Garlic Dijon Dressing

3 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp fresh garlic minced
½ tsp salt (add more to taste)
¼ tsp black pepper

Instructions

First, cook the wild rice. Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a rolling boil. Salt the water and add the wild rice. Reduce the heat to a low simmer (medium-high), and let the rice cook for 40-45 minutes. Most of the grains will pop open and taste chewy and tender. Drain any excess water and let it cool for 20-30 minutes.
While the rice is cooling, prep all the salad ingredients. Roughly chop the arugula and pecans, slice the green onions, and remove the arils from the pomegranate.
In a small bowl, whisk together the dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, maple syrup, fresh lemon juice, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.
Combine the cooled wild rice, arugula, pomegranate arils, green onions, pecans, and dried cherries in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and mix it well to combine all of the ingredients. You can eat it immediately or put it in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes before serving.

Notes

Roughly chop the arugula into bite-sized pieces so the salad is easy to eat.
Make sure the rice has cooled completely before you add it to the salad so it doesn't make the arugula wilt.
To keep the salad oil-free, look for dried cherries that aren't coated in oil.
If you want to prepare the salad the day before or more than 1 hour prior to when you're going to serve the salad, wait to add the dressing so it won't make the salad wet.
Store the leftover salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Nutrition