Green Leafy Salad with Persimmons and Pomegranates {Recipe}

This salad is a celebration of winter.  Every year, I wait anxiously for persimmons and pomegranates to be in season to enjoy this tangy, crunchy and peppery salad. The pomegranate kernels, Nakano Natural Rice Vinegar and Holland House Red Wine Vinegar compliment the sweetness of the persimmons and woody hazelnut flavor.   This salad has been known to convert non-salad believers into salad enthusiasts.

Green Leafy Salad with Persimmons and Pomegranates 

2/3 cup shelled hazelnuts

1 ½ tablespoons + 1 teaspoon hazelnut oil

1 tablespoons finely diced pearl onion

2 small shallots, thinly sliced

Juice from 2 pomegranates*

½ cup pomegranate seeds

1 tablespoons Holland House Red Wine Vinegar

2 teaspoons Nakano Natural Rice Vinegar

1 tablespoon Pomegranate Vinegar

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 Fuyu persimmons, sliced in matchsticks

½ lemon for juicing

1 lb. arugula

Sea salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Toast hazelnuts on baking sheet for 10 minutes shaking the baking sheet a few times until lightly browned all over and fragrant. Chop roughly and toss them with 1 teaspoon hazelnut oil and pinch of sea salt.

In a small glass bowl, place diced onion, pomegranate juice, vinegars and pinch of salt.  Whisk in oils.

In a large salad bowl, toss arugula, persimmons, shallots, pomegranate seeds and lemon juice. Add vinaigrette, toss and sprinkle with the remaining chopped hazelnuts.

Serves 6-8

*Cooks note:

Juicing pomegranates can be extremely messy.  To minimize mess, squeeze pomegranate with your hands and pressing with your fingers until skin feels soft.  Make a 1” slit and hold over a container (slit face-down).  Juices will flow out.

{All photos courtesy of Ericka Sánchez}

Ericka Sánchez–Proudly born in Torreón, Coahuila Mexico, Ericka arrived in the United States in 1982 to El Paso, Texas. Her love of food began in her mom’s kitchen but flourished in a food photography studio where she assisted in food styling/design and photo shoots.

Now a wife and a mom to a 2-year old toddler, Ericka launched her bilingual blog Nibbles & Feasts in 2010 as a guide to satiating food cravings through recipes and to share her restaurant recommendations and food events in Los Angeles. You can read all of Ericka´s recipes here.