Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad
Persimmons and pomegranates are both in season right now and make a delicious addition to your fall table, whether entertaining for the holidays or just having a weeknight meal with family. To amp up the festive flavors I made a pomegranate vinaigrette to go with it using pomegranate vinegar and shallots and a couple of other ingredients. But, if you don’t have any on hand, just substitute regular balsamic vinegar instead.
And this is one of those salads where I think ingredients really will make a difference. To that end I will list out the specific brands that I used because I think it’s worth it if you can find some or all of these same ingredients. For the goat cheese I used Humboldt Fog’s Cypress Cove, which is a creamy, tangy but delicate goat cheese. As for the lettuce I chose Mache, which is a French lettuce that I found at my local Whole Foods. Something delicate like mixed greens would work well also. And finally…the nut mixture. I really wanted to toast my own hazlenuts to put on top but low and behold Whole Foods was clean out of them. So, I ended up using the Sahale brand Pecan-Cashew Nut Crisp, which I happened to have in my pantry but toasted pine nuts were my back up plan. So used what you have along those lines. Even candied walnuts would be good.
Finally, a couple of cooks notes. There are different types of persimmons and some are sweeter than others so be sure to ask your grocer which type to get for non-baking. The Fuyu varietal is the kind I used and I chose to peel the skin off because it’s a little tough, but that’s up to you. Also, to make things really, really easy I actually used fresh, packaged pomegranate seeds but if you happen to have a tree in your backyard or just prefer the seeds straight from the fruit, even better.
Ingredients
- 3.5 oz package greens (Mache or spring greens)
- 1/4 lb Humbolt Fog Cypress Cove goat cheese (or other goat cheese)
- 1 Fuyu persimmon, peeled and cut into thin slices
- 3/4 cup Pecan-Cashew mix (Sahale Brand Nuts) or toasted hazlenuts
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- Pomegranate Dressing (see below)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons pomegranate vinegar or balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 cup diced shallots (1 large shallot bulb)
- 3 teaspoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Method
- Dressing
- Combine the olive oil, vinegar, shallots, honey, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use. Up to 1 week.
- Assemble salad. Place greens on a platter and top with the nuts, goat cheese and persimmon slices. Then sprinkle on the pomegranate seeds.
- Dress right before serving. *Do not add too much dressing or salad will get soggy.
