Fruit, Nut, and Goat Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Pear, Date, Pomegranate, and Goat Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette It’s been cold and rainy all week. In New York I knew how to deal with the rain, had no choice. But there I had proper rain boots, an underground train system to transport me through the dry belly of the city, more than one umbrella. Here, in Be’er Sheva, my wardrobe is now suited to the desert I live in. When it rains it takes all my energy to get out of pajamas, let alone leave the house. But therein lies the beauty of working from home – I don’t have to! And on days – more like weeks – like this, I crave warm, comforting dishes that I can curl up in. Yes, I literally mean curl up in. The other night, freezing in my poorly insulated apartment, I told my husband I wanted to make a stew just to bathe in it. I was only half kidding.

So where does this salad fit into the picture? Well, after eating the kind of heavy comfort food that this weather inspires, I do a 180 and crave light, nutritious salads to balance the rich, wintery meals. I want to be reminded that brighter, warmer weather is around the corner. I want to be transported, at least for a moment, to a sunnier place. I still need my salads to be filling (not like in the sticky heat of summer when watermelon seems the only appropriate food). This salad with fruit, nuts, cheese, and a tangy pomegranate vinaigrette does the trick. I originally developed it for my Sukkot menu over at the Jew and the Carrot, but I find that it’s still just as appropriate and seasonal now, at the beginning of February. Feel free to swap whatever fruits and veggies are available near you now and suit your taste.

I love everything about this salad. I love the different textures here, the play between savory and sweet, and the mix of fresh and dried fruits. It sings of this region with its dates and pomegranates, both in different forms here (pomegranate seeds in the salad and juice in the vinaigrette; dried dates in the mix and date honey in the dressing).Even the dressing feels like something special. It’s slightly sweet, but mostly tangy in the way a good vinaigrette should be. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

5.0 from 5 reviews
Pear, Date, Pomegranate, and Goat Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette
 
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This salad is a delightful mix of fresh and dry fruits, creamy goat cheese, and tangy pomegranate vinaigrette. It makes a nice light supper as well as a superb - not to mention beautiful - side.
Author:
Recipe Type: Side
Yield: 6 side servings
Ingredients
For the Salad:
  • 9 ounces mixed greens
  • 1 pear, sliced
  • ½ cup pitted and sliced Medjool dates
  • ¼ cups pomegranate seeds
  • ½ cups coarsely chopped walnuts
  • ½cups dried cranberries
  • 3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
For the Pomegranate Vinaigrette:
  • ½ cup pomegranate juice
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1-2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon date honey (substitute regular honey)
  • ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Directions
For the Salad:
  1. Put all the ingredients in a salad bowl.
  2. Toss with pomegranate vinaigrette (recipe below) or serve on the side.
For the Pomegranate Vinaigrette:
  1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor, or vigorously whisk together by hand.
  2. Taste and adjust as necessary.
Notes
Gluten free, Kosher dairy, Vegetarian Note: to make vegan or parve, simply omit the goat cheese.
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Linked up at Tastetastic Thursday over at A Little Nosh

59 thoughts on “Fruit, Nut, and Goat Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette”

  1. Kiri W.

    Oh wow, this has all my favorite ingredients! 🙂 How I love goat cheese with fruit! The vinaigrette sounds like a fantastic complement, too.

  2. Tina@flourtrader

    You did make some pretty awesome choices of ingredients here-yum! This is a recipe that you know there will not be much clean up. Every serving of this salad will end with a bowl scraped or licked clean. Tasty post!

  3. mjskit

    I agree that after eating so many comfort foods to stay warm, it’s nice to have a filling salad. The cold makes salads hard at times, but with a salad like this one – it wouldn’t matter! I love all of the fruit, fresh and dried! Fantastic salad and a delicious vinaigrette!

  5. kitchenriffs

    Great combo of flavors. And I know what you mean about craving something with greens after a lot of heavy food. I often wonder if it’s not the acid in the vinaigrette I’m really wanting? Who knows? Who cares? Just bring on the salad! Really gorgeous color in this salad. Anyway, good recipe – thanks.

  11. Liz

    YUM! I love something light and refreshing each day, too…and this stunning salad fits the bill perfectly. Greens and pomegranates will be added to my shopping list 🙂

  12. Nami | Just One Cookbook

    This salad sounds and looks delicious! I like all kinds of salad, but there are few that I particularly like. This kind of salad is one of them. Dijon in dressing is nice – I like that. I’ve tried using pomegranate a couple of times but I never made dressing. This has to be a keeper!

  16. Eri

    I love the combination of flavors in this salad Katherine, you cant go wrong with fresh cheese, greens and pomegranate! It looks lovely!

  19. Jen

    Winter is actually my favorite time of year to eat salads because I crave the bright colors and the feeling of warm weather that eating them gives me!

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  26. Mary@Fit and Fed

    I tried this because I’ve been looking for the perfect pomegranate vinaigrette. Didn’t have any red wine vinegar so I used balsamic instead and skipped the sugar (since balsamic is so sweet). Loved the salad, never had dates in a salad before but it worked really well, I also liked the variety of fruit. I skipped the goat cheese, it’s fine without it.

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