I know I shouldn’t complain. And I’m not. But at the moment we currently have so many pomegranates I don’t know what to do with them.
And don’t say make pomegranate molasses. I know I could. I know I should. But in terms of time and effort I’m just not going there.
The reason we have so many pomegranates is because our one little tree in Umbria has finally kicked in. When we first planted it we knew it would take years to start producing fruit, and that even then, it would be hit or miss. Well, the tree has finally kicked in and the fruit has come fast and furious. I guess pomegranates must like global warming, because for the last few years we have more and more.
Mostly I just eat them. And if you’ve ever eaten a freshly picked pomegranate, the seeds just bursting with juice, then you know why.
I also juice them, which is easier than you think. You can just cut them in half, and juice them like any citrus. (I can hear you saying “ah!” right now). At which point, feel free to add vodka or even grappa.
But this weekend up in Umbria i decided to turn a few into a salad for lunch. A bunch of cavolo nero from the garden, some goat cheese from the caseificio and that was that.
I’ve made many version of this salad in the past, with different fruits. But the pomegranate version is definitely my favorite.
You might have noticed from one of these photos that we are also swimming in persimmons. Ideas??
kale + pomegranate salad
Prep
Total
Yield 2
Ingredients
- 12 leaves of cavolo nero (called lacinato or Tuscan Kale)
- seeds from one pomegranate
- 1/2 cup crumbly goat cheese
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons good quality balsamico (Aceto Balscamico di Modena)
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Strip the stems from the leaves of the kale. Chop into 1/4 inch ribbons and place in a bowl.
- Sprinkle with about 1 tsp of salt, and massage it into the kale. Don’t be wimpy, really squeeze it in. This will help to soften the kale, without cooking it. Let it rest for about a half hour
- In the meantime whisk the dressing ingredients: olive oil, balsamic and vinegar.
- Assemble the salad: pour the dressing over the greens and toss. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Scatter the cheese on top, then the pomegrante seeds and serve. I like to bring it to the table before tossing the cheese and seeds in, because it looks so pretty.
The pomegranate salad looks lovely. Re: persimmons — when I was a child (many years ago) we had a family friend who used to make persimmon cookies. They were a soft cookie with a very slight spiciness to them but mostly tasted of persimmon and absolutely delicious. I regret I have no recipe to send you, but you might try playing with that idea?
Thanks, will try!
Thanks!!!
I noticed those lovely persimmons. They look like a fuyu type that can be sliced into kale or arugula salad, my favorite use (other than eating them ripe and runny!). It seems like the most common use for persimmon is pudding, but that is not my favorite flavor. I have bookmarked lots of recipes as I just ordered some from California. Maybe one will float your boat:
I am going to be doing some pickling and maybe dry some. Enjoy!
When I’ve been lucky enough to have someone give me persimmons I’ve made jam, cookies and bread. Jam is great for tarts, of course. My sister just slices them on salads, like apples, when they are still crisp. We have planted three persimmon trees and all have perished. Guess they don’t like central Virginia.
Sounds wonderful! Just left a place with too many pomegranates – why didn’t i think to juice this way? What i tried didn’t work…
We also had too many persimmons – so:
Persimmon gelato! 3 – 4 persimmons, a bit of sugar, some lemon juice, maybe fresh ginger of cardamom, maybe of bit of liqueur… then into the ice cream machine, and then the freezer.. i made batches of it – now it’s just waiting to add summer flavor to a stormy winter night!
Also persimmon jam, but it has to cook, and takes a lot of jars….
Gelato!!!
Can I ask if the salt is left on the Kale after resting or washed off? Want to try this salad this week! Looks delicious. And thank you. Eloise
Left on!!
Beautiful. I was in Mexico this summer and in a market saw gorgeous pomegranates that were chartreuse on the outside with hot pink seeds on the inside. They were selling cups of the seeds dressed with lime juice, salt at chili.
Oh yum!!! That sounds so good! I”ll definitely try that with ours.
Looks delicious. Very creative of you to turn pomegranate into salad 🙂
Well, you can always ship the pomegranates to me – I love them! I add grated ginger sometimes, or a drizzle of honey, or both, or ginger syrup when I make it. Love your plate with cracked pomegranate too.
Could you share your experience with pomegranate tree? Ours, planted last autumn, looks like it’s dieing (and I hope it’s not): leaves and some thin branches browning. Didn’t bloom at all.
Best, Tamara
Pomegranate trees sometimes take a while to get going. We planted ours about 20 years ago, and it’s only now cropping regularly. But if you’re not seeing any blooms, then you certainly won’t be getting any fruit. But if yours is only less than a year old, then I think you may have a while to wait. 😉