Pomegranate Salad & Holiday Salad Marathon
A vibrant Pomegranate Salad that's perfect for holiday gatherings, featuring marinated kale and a honey cinnamon walnut topping.
Equipment
- bowl
- Chopping board
- baking tray
- Jar
Ingredients
Marinated Kale
- 5 stems kale big and leafy, sub baby rocket/arugula but skip marinating
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch pepper
Salad
- 1 pomegranate big, juicy or 1 cup pomegranate arils
- 8 cups baby spinach or baby rocket/arugula
- 100 g blue cheese crumbled yourself
- ½ cup dried cranberries or raisins, craisins
- 2 blood oranges normal oranges, yellow peach, nectarine or grapefruit (optional)
Honey Cinnamon Walnuts
- 1 ½ cup walnuts or pecans
- ¼ cup honey runny, so warm if super thick, or maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Pomegranate Dressing
- 2 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
- 1 ½ tablespoon red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
- 4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Marinated Kale
- Remove leaves: Grab the base of the stalk then run your fist up the stalk to remove the leaves.
- Slice: bundle the kale leaves on a chopping board, then slice 0.5 cm / ⅕" thick.
- Scrunch: Place in bowl, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use your hands to scrunch in order to soften leaves and coat everything with the oil. Do this for 20 seconds. Leave for 30 minutes to marinate – leaves will soften.
Honey Walnuts
- Toss: Place walnuts in a bowl, drizzle with honey, sprinkle with cinnamon and salt. Mix, spread on paper lined baking tray.
- Bake: Bake at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) for 15 minutes, tossing once halfway. Leave to cool, then use fingers to roughly break walnuts up into slightly smaller pieces.
Pomegranate Dressing
- Place ingredients in a jar and shake very well, being sure that there is no molasses left on the bottom of the jar.
Remove Pomegranate Seeds
- Cut pomegranate in half. Over a bowl, turn cut face downwards, then use a wooden spoon to (very!) firmly smack the back of the pomegranate. The seeds will fly out through your fingers into the bowl.
- Keep smacking all over the skin until the seeds are all out. Pick out any white pith that fell out, then use seeds per recipe.
Slice fruit (if using)
- Peaches, nectarines: Halve, remove stone, then cut into 4mm / ⅙" slices.
- Grapefruit, oranges: Cut off peel and pith, then segment.
Assemble
- Dress greens lightly: Place kale and spinach leaves in a giant bowl. Drizzle with about 3 tablespoons of Dressing then toss very well.
- Layer half: Pour half kale/spinach into a large serving bowl. Sprinkle with ⅓ EACH of walnuts, blue cheese (crumbled), pomegranates, orange segments, and cranberries.
- Presentation layer: Top with remaining kale & spinach, then remaining walnuts, blue cheese, pomegranates, orange segments and cranberries. Drizzle over remaining dressing just before serving.
- Serving: Best served freshly assembled but this salad will hold up much better than most because kale doesn't go as soggy once dressing, it's even good the next day!
Notes
Dressed salad keeps better than most because kale is hardier than usual leafy greens. It's still decent for 2 days – keep in the fridge. Just prepare all components separately, then assemble just prior to serving. The marinated kale will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Nutrition
Serving: 1salad bowlCalories: 300kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 5gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 247mgPotassium: 332mgFiber: 3gSugar: 19gVitamin A: 2951IUVitamin C: 37mgCalcium: 85mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!