Pomegranate Salad - with Spinach, Kale, Honey Walnuts & Pomegranate Dressing
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5.0
105 reviews
Excellent
Pomegranate Salad - with Spinach, Kale, Honey Walnuts & Pomegranate Dressing
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Recipe video above. Fabulously festive to look at, and scrumptious to eat! Crunchy Honey Walnuts add texture, while creamy blue cheese brings tangy umami to this party. And as for raw kale haters? Don't despair! This kale is MARINATED to tenderise and temper the kale flavour.As for the pomegranates - use pre-seeded if you must, but there's something so satisfying about smacking them out yourself! .... Oh, and it's juicier and fresher too! ;)BONUS: Keeps pretty well even once dressed. SERVES: 3 as a filling lunch, 8-10 as a side salad.
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Ingredients
Marinated kale (tenderised for tastiness, Note 1):
- 5 kale stems (big and leafy, sub baby rocket/arugula but skip marinating)
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch of salt and pepper
Salad:
- 1 pomegranate , big, juicy (or 1 cup pomegranate arils, Note 2)
- 8 cups (120g/4.5oz) baby spinach (or baby rocket/arugula)
- 100g/3.5 oz blue cheese , crumbled yourself (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries (or raisins, craisins)
- 2 blood oranges , normal oranges, yellow peach, nectarine or grapefruit (optional, for extra colour/juicy/interest)
Honey Cinnamon Walnuts:
- 1 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
- 1/4 cup honey (runny, so warm if super thick), or maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
Pomegranate Dressing:
- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses (Note 4)
- 1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar or cider vinegar)
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
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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 / 1/5" 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. Try it - much tastier than plain raw!
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. (Shake in jar is better than whisking to bring this dressing together).
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. It's very satisfying!!!
- 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. You will probably get some juices pooling in the bowl; add this to the dressing too.
Slice fruit (if using):
- Peaches, nectarines: Halve, remove stone, then cut into 4mm / 1/6" slices.
- Grapefruit, oranges: Cut off peel and pith, then segment (see this video at 41 sec for demo)
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 1/3 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
- Marinated raw kale - raw kale is quite chewy and has a distinct kale flavour that many people don't really enjoy. To tenderise and neutralise the flavour, all it takes is marinating with a small amount of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Just scrunch/rub and a little bit goes a long way, leave 30 min (up to 3 days!). It makes an amazing difference!
- Pomegranate - In some places, fresh pomegranate seeds are sold in cups. But nothing beats fresh - it's juicier, and giving the pomegranate a good whack to remove the seeds is all part of the fun!!
- Avoid frozen - they lose colour when they thaw!
- Blue cheese - Gives a fabulous hit of extra wow factor in anything you add it to for the intense flavour, little pops of creaminess and salt. Use anything that can be crumbled, but not creamy blue brie. Blue Castello is a very mild creamy blue cheese that is reasonably good value - good for those cagey about blue cheese.
- Goat's cheese or Danish feta (creamy) - These make excellent alternatives, for the blue cheese-shy types, as it has a similar creamy crumble-able texture and flavour profile. Firm Greek Feta makes an adequate substitute (but it's not as creamy).
- Don't buy pre-crumbled or packet feta if possible - it's dry and a waste of money.
- Pomegranate Molasses - sold in bottles in the vinegar section, it's a reduction that looks like balsamic glaze with the same thick syrupy consistency and a similar sweet/tart flavour. Except it's made from pomegranates! Common nowadays, available at large grocery stores and no more expensive than balsamic reduction. See in post for more ways to use it - excellent quick drizzle option for salads, you'll never look back once you try it!
- Storage - 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.
- Make ahead - just prepare all the components separately, then assemble just prior to serving. The marinated kale will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge.
- Nutrition per serving, assuming 8 servings.
Nutrition Information
Show Details
Calories
300cal
(15%)
Carbohydrates
27g
(9%)
Protein
5g
(10%)
Fat
21g
(32%)
Saturated Fat
3g
(15%)
Cholesterol
3mg
(1%)
Sodium
247mg
(10%)
Potassium
332mg
(9%)
Fiber
3g
(12%)
Sugar
19g
(38%)
Vitamin A
2951IU
(59%)
Vitamin C
37mg
(41%)
Calcium
85mg
(9%)
Iron
1mg
(6%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 8- 10 as a side
Amount Per Serving
Calories 300 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 300cal | 15% |
| Carbohydrates | 27g | 9% |
| Protein | 5g | 10% |
| Fat | 21g | 32% |
| Saturated Fat | 3g | 15% |
| Cholesterol | 3mg | 1% |
| Sodium | 247mg | 10% |
| Potassium | 332mg | 7% |
| Fiber | 3g | 12% |
| Sugar | 19g | 38% |
| Vitamin A | 2951IU | 59% |
| Vitamin C | 37mg | 41% |
| Calcium | 85mg | 9% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
105 reviews
Excellent
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