Pomegranate Avocado Salad with Miso Dressing Recipe

Happy New Year! It's hard after the holidays not to want to take a break from all the indulgence and make sweeping resolutions. My diet resolutions this year are simply to eat more soups and salads. Sure, I'd love to eat healthy, exercise more and lose weight but I'm trying to be realistic.

When it comes to soup, there is no problem. I probably eat soup for dinner once a week. While I grew up eating salad every night, it's just not all that popular around my dinner table. I have a couple of ideas to shake things up. I am going to try to develop more interesting salad combinations and recipes. I am going to get creative with salad dressings and I am also going to try eating more salad for lunch.

This is a salad I served on New Year's Eve. It is very festive looking, don't you think? The salad is light and healthy, but has a good variety of flavors and textures. The Napa cabbage adds color and crunch, the pomegranate adds color but also sweetness, which is balanced by the saltiness of the miso dressing. The dressing uses white or shiro miso, which is less salty than other darker miso. I've added a few teaspoons of tahini which I always seem to have on hand for making hummus. I don't use it for anything else! Perhaps finding more uses for pantry staples should be another resolution...

Avocado Pomegranate Salad with Miso Dressing
Serves 4-6

8 leaves Napa cabbage, shredded
8 cups mesclun or spring greens
1/2 cup pomegranate "seeds"
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

Dressing
3 Tablespoons rice bran oil
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons white miso
2 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons tahini
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Whisk together the salad dressing ingredients and taste for seasoning.

Toss the cabbage and greens and dressing to lightly coat. Garnish each serving with pomegranate and avocado. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

More pomegranate salad recipes:

Fruity Pomegranate Salad with Savory Soy Vinaigrette from White on Rice Couple

Spinach Pomegranate Salad with Apples and Walnuts from Pinch My Salt

Golden Beet and Pomegranate Salad from Simply Recipes

Nigella's Pomegranate, Onion and Coriander(cilantro) salad from Real Epicure

Pomegranate Avocado Salad with Miso Dressing Recipe

Happy New Year! It's hard after the holidays not to want to take a break from all the indulgence and make sweeping resolutions. My diet resolutions this year are simply to eat more soups and salads. Sure, I'd love to eat healthy, exercise more and lose weight but I'm trying to be realistic.

When it comes to soup, there is no problem. I probably eat soup for dinner once a week. While I grew up eating salad every night, it's just not all that popular around my dinner table. I have a couple of ideas to shake things up. I am going to try to develop more interesting salad combinations and recipes. I am going to get creative with salad dressings and I am also going to try eating more salad for lunch.

This is a salad I served on New Year's Eve. It is very festive looking, don't you think? The salad is light and healthy, but has a good variety of flavors and textures. The Napa cabbage adds color and crunch, the pomegranate adds color but also sweetness, which is balanced by the saltiness of the miso dressing. The dressing uses white or shiro miso, which is less salty than other darker miso. I've added a few teaspoons of tahini which I always seem to have on hand for making hummus. I don't use it for anything else! Perhaps finding more uses for pantry staples should be another resolution...

Avocado Pomegranate Salad with Miso Dressing
Serves 4-6

8 leaves Napa cabbage, shredded
8 cups mesclun or spring greens
1/2 cup pomegranate "seeds"
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

Dressing
3 Tablespoons rice bran oil
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons white miso
2 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons tahini
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Whisk together the salad dressing ingredients and taste for seasoning.

Toss the cabbage and greens and dressing to lightly coat. Garnish each serving with pomegranate and avocado. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

More pomegranate salad recipes:

Fruity Pomegranate Salad with Savory Soy Vinaigrette from White on Rice Couple

Spinach Pomegranate Salad with Apples and Walnuts from Pinch My Salt

Golden Beet and Pomegranate Salad from Simply Recipes

Nigella's Pomegranate, Onion and Coriander(cilantro) salad from Real Epicure

Pomegranate Avocado Salad with Miso Dressing Recipe

Happy New Year! It's hard after the holidays not to want to take a break from all the indulgence and make sweeping resolutions. My diet resolutions this year are simply to eat more soups and salads. Sure, I'd love to eat healthy, exercise more and lose weight but I'm trying to be realistic.

When it comes to soup, there is no problem. I probably eat soup for dinner once a week. While I grew up eating salad every night, it's just not all that popular around my dinner table. I have a couple of ideas to shake things up. I am going to try to develop more interesting salad combinations and recipes. I am going to get creative with salad dressings and I am also going to try eating more salad for lunch.

This is a salad I served on New Year's Eve. It is very festive looking, don't you think? The salad is light and healthy, but has a good variety of flavors and textures. The Napa cabbage adds color and crunch, the pomegranate adds color but also sweetness, which is balanced by the saltiness of the miso dressing. The dressing uses white or shiro miso, which is less salty than other darker miso. I've added a few teaspoons of tahini which I always seem to have on hand for making hummus. I don't use it for anything else! Perhaps finding more uses for pantry staples should be another resolution...

Avocado Pomegranate Salad with Miso Dressing
Serves 4-6

8 leaves Napa cabbage, shredded
8 cups mesclun or spring greens
1/2 cup pomegranate "seeds"
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

Dressing
3 Tablespoons rice bran oil
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons white miso
2 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons tahini
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Whisk together the salad dressing ingredients and taste for seasoning.

Toss the cabbage and greens and dressing to lightly coat. Garnish each serving with pomegranate and avocado. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

More pomegranate salad recipes:

Fruity Pomegranate Salad with Savory Soy Vinaigrette from White on Rice Couple

Spinach Pomegranate Salad with Apples and Walnuts from Pinch My Salt

Golden Beet and Pomegranate Salad from Simply Recipes

Nigella's Pomegranate, Onion and Coriander(cilantro) salad from Real Epicure

Winter Cobb Salad:Recipe

Last year I had the pleasure of having breakfast with Michael Symon at a demo that he did at Williams-Sonoma. From recipes in his cookbook, Michael Symon's Live to Cook, he made creamy scrambled eggs with goat cheese, potato pancakes and of course, plenty of bacon. Michael Symon loves bacon, it features prominently in many of his recipes.

The next best thing to eating Michael Symon's food, is seeing him cook, so you can replicate his recipes at home. Right now you can see a number of videos with Michael Symon at EatWisconsinCheese.com, where he demonstrates some very interesting techniques. For example, he makes gnocchi that is cooked in a pan, with no need to parboil.

I'm always looking for more salad recipes and I like his version with arugula, apples, radishes and Wisconsin blue cheese. Symon's salad is a side dish, but with just a couple more additions, it actually makes a great main dish. To the salad I added crunchy jicama, creamy avocado, toasted walnuts and in honor of Symon, smoky bacon. The result is a very substantial "Cobb" style entree salad, with rows of seasonal ingredients. I'm not going to lie to you, while not hard to make, this salad does take a fair amount of time to prepare, but it is absolutely worth it. Even the least enthusiastic salad eater will love it.

Winter Cobb Salad
Serves 4, as a main dish

1 shallot, minced, about a tablespoon
3 Tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup radish slices
1 Granny Smith apples, cored and diced
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
1 cup jicama, peeled and diced
6 cups arugula
1 cup Black River blue cheese, crumbled (Buttermilk blue would be good too)
1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Dressing
Place shallots and large pinch of kosher salt in mixing bowl. Add vinegar, honey and mustard. Mix. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Taste for seasoning then put in a small pitcher or ramekin for serving.

Salad
Make a bed of arugula on a large serving platter. Place the radishes, apples, avocado, jicama, blue cheese, walnuts and bacon on top of the salad in rows. Serve with the dressing on the side. Alternatively you can create individual servings of the salad if you prefer.

Enjoy!

Winter Cobb Salad:Recipe

Last year I had the pleasure of having breakfast with Michael Symon at a demo that he did at Williams-Sonoma. From recipes in his cookbook, Michael Symon's Live to Cook, he made creamy scrambled eggs with goat cheese, potato pancakes and of course, plenty of bacon. Michael Symon loves bacon, it features prominently in many of his recipes.

The next best thing to eating Michael Symon's food, is seeing him cook, so you can replicate his recipes at home. Right now you can see a number of videos with Michael Symon at EatWisconsinCheese.com, where he demonstrates some very interesting techniques. For example, he makes gnocchi that is cooked in a pan, with no need to parboil.

I'm always looking for more salad recipes and I like his version with arugula, apples, radishes and Wisconsin blue cheese. Symon's salad is a side dish, but with just a couple more additions, it actually makes a great main dish. To the salad I added crunchy jicama, creamy avocado, toasted walnuts and in honor of Symon, smoky bacon. The result is a very substantial "Cobb" style entree salad, with rows of seasonal ingredients. I'm not going to lie to you, while not hard to make, this salad does take a fair amount of time to prepare, but it is absolutely worth it. Even the least enthusiastic salad eater will love it.

Winter Cobb Salad
Serves 4, as a main dish

1 shallot, minced, about a tablespoon
3 Tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup radish slices
1 Granny Smith apples, cored and diced
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
1 cup jicama, peeled and diced
6 cups arugula
1 cup Black River blue cheese, crumbled (Buttermilk blue would be good too)
1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Dressing
Place shallots and large pinch of kosher salt in mixing bowl. Add vinegar, honey and mustard. Mix. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Taste for seasoning then put in a small pitcher or ramekin for serving.

Salad
Make a bed of arugula on a large serving platter. Place the radishes, apples, avocado, jicama, blue cheese, walnuts and bacon on top of the salad in rows. Serve with the dressing on the side. Alternatively you can create individual servings of the salad if you prefer.

Enjoy!

Winter Cobb Salad:Recipe

Last year I had the pleasure of having breakfast with Michael Symon at a demo that he did at Williams-Sonoma. From recipes in his cookbook, Michael Symon's Live to Cook, he made creamy scrambled eggs with goat cheese, potato pancakes and of course, plenty of bacon. Michael Symon loves bacon, it features prominently in many of his recipes.

The next best thing to eating Michael Symon's food, is seeing him cook, so you can replicate his recipes at home. Right now you can see a number of videos with Michael Symon at EatWisconsinCheese.com, where he demonstrates some very interesting techniques. For example, he makes gnocchi that is cooked in a pan, with no need to parboil.

I'm always looking for more salad recipes and I like his version with arugula, apples, radishes and Wisconsin blue cheese. Symon's salad is a side dish, but with just a couple more additions, it actually makes a great main dish. To the salad I added crunchy jicama, creamy avocado, toasted walnuts and in honor of Symon, smoky bacon. The result is a very substantial "Cobb" style entree salad, with rows of seasonal ingredients. I'm not going to lie to you, while not hard to make, this salad does take a fair amount of time to prepare, but it is absolutely worth it. Even the least enthusiastic salad eater will love it.

Winter Cobb Salad
Serves 4, as a main dish

1 shallot, minced, about a tablespoon
3 Tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup radish slices
1 Granny Smith apples, cored and diced
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
1 cup jicama, peeled and diced
6 cups arugula
1 cup Black River blue cheese, crumbled (Buttermilk blue would be good too)
1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Dressing
Place shallots and large pinch of kosher salt in mixing bowl. Add vinegar, honey and mustard. Mix. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Taste for seasoning then put in a small pitcher or ramekin for serving.

Salad
Make a bed of arugula on a large serving platter. Place the radishes, apples, avocado, jicama, blue cheese, walnuts and bacon on top of the salad in rows. Serve with the dressing on the side. Alternatively you can create individual servings of the salad if you prefer.

Enjoy!

It's Not Even Spring Yet!

I couldn't help it. I tried to restrain myself, really, but this stretch of warmer weather had me champing at the bit to grill something. Anything. So, after spending the morning zesting citrus for various things (Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake was one) I felt the need for fresh flavors on my dinner plate.

I had already thawed chicken breasts and was planning on fried chicken with a tomato based sauce, but I caught sight of the grill outside and made a last minute executive decision: the chicken must be grilled.

I had also been cooking beans to have on-hand. The beans were cooking with dried arbol chiles, bay leaves and garlic, and after tossing the lime shells (limes sans zest and juice) into the beans I felt like they needed to come to play in our dinner somehow. I scratched the tomato sauce idea and instead made a quick salsa with beans, avocado and tomato. It was the perfect complement to the grilled chicken. It was so good, in fact, that I had to keep from finishing it off myself. There are no herbs added and it doesn't need any at all - the combination of crunchy onion, tender avocado and tangy lime juice is terrific as-is.

Our dinner was a thrown-together delight. The chicken was topped with the salsa and I made a simple side of linguine tossed with olive oil, dried lemon zest and basil. It was divinely delicious and even the kids liked it. Not quite summer, but so close I could almost taste it.

Simple Tomato, Bean and Avocado Salsa
Makes 3 cups

1 1/2 cups seeded and diced tomato
1 1/2 cups cooked and drained beans (I used kidney and pinto)
1 small Hass avocado, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 cup white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 limes, juiced
1 teaspoon Kosher salt

Combine all in a small bowl and toss well. Let stand for several minutes to blend flavors before serving.