Green Salad with Chevre, Black Walnuts, Apples and Pomegranate Vinaigrette

This very picturesque salad was a collaborative effort between Morganna and I, and it typifies all that I believe a salad should be–a beautiful combination of flavors, color, textures and aromas which beguile the senses while retaining an essential simplicity of presentation which is still lyrically aesthetic.

I made the dressing, and came up with the concept for the salad.

Morganna was responsible for the execution of the salad; she did the slicing, and the plating, and decided on the proportions of the ingredients to be used. All I said to her as she worked on it was that the salad had to be “pretty.”

Grumbling the entire time about how she could never work as a garde manger–the person who does cold (and sometimes hot) appetizers, cold plates and salads–because it requires too much finicky work, Morganna put together a gorgeous salad with excellent presentation.

The main component is the two-toned butterhead and leaf lettuces which make the underpinnings of the salad; the other focal ingredients were locally grown tart Johnathan apples and icy-crisp, spicy Asian pears.

To add crunch and color, I included pomegranate seeds and black walnuts, which are an Appalachian native tree nut. They have a musky, dark flavor that is sweet, yet redolent of the scents of fallen leaves and damp woodlands. To me, black walnuts are the essence of autumn distilled into a very small, buttery package.

Flecks of snow white tangy goat cheese rounded out the salad, giving a touch of richness echoed by the nuts, and a bit of smoothness found in both the lettuce and the apple. Its soft, yielding texture and dairy fragrance, however, were its own.

The dressing was simple–a vinaigrette with pomegranate juice concentrate instead of vinegar, a touch of honey, a pinch of salt, and a nice dollup of really good, rich olive oil. (If I had walnut oil in the house, that is what I would have used, but I was out.)

The pomegranate juice concentrate, pictured here, could be replaced with a similar, more traditional product, pomegranate molasses, but again, I had used the last of my stash in a salad dressing a few weeks prior to this salad. So–necessity being the mother of invention, I used this concentrate, meant to be added to water to make a pomegranate juice drink, was perfect. I had found it a while back at my grocery store, and had used it in making a sauce for my pomegranate cheesecake–its ruby color and tart, syrupy consistency were a perfect foil to the rich tang of the cheesecake and the crunchy, sour nuggets of fresh pomegranate seeds.

The dressing is simplicity itself to whip up–I just put the ingredients together into a bottle and shook it up well, then let it sit at room temperature until serving time so that the flavors could meld together perfectly.

The collaboration worked–the salad captivated the senses–balanced perfectly between sweet and sour flavors, pale and brilliant colors, crisp, soft, yielding and buttery textures, and strong and delicate fragrances, it was also a delight to the eyes.

Morganna, her protestations to the contrary, would make a very good garde manger, if she set her mind to it.

Green Salad with Chevre, Black Walnuts, Apples and Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1/4 cup pomegranate juice concentrate or pomegranate molasses
3/4 cup very good extra virgin olive oil
honey to taste
salt to taste
8 ounces mixed leaf and butterhead lettuces, washed, dried and torn into bite-sized pieces
1 Jonathan, or other tart apple, washed well and sliced thinly
1 Asian pear, peeled and cut into paper thin slices
1 pomegranate, seeds removed from the peel and pith
1 ounce black walnuts, roughly chopped
1 ounce tangy goat cheese, crumbled into bits

Method:

To make the dressing, put first two ingredients into a bottle or jar, and close tightly. Shake like mad. Taste and add honey and salt to your liking. The flavor should be a balance between sweet and sour with just a tiny hint of salt to balance it. The oil should just hold it all together with a hint of buttery richness.

Divide lettuces between four individual salad bowls or plates.

Arrange apple and Asian pear slices in a decorative pattern over the lettuces. Sprinkle 1/2 the pomegranate seeds (reserve the rest of the seeds for another use or snack on them while you are fixing dinner–we chose the latter course of action) and the walnuts and goat cheese over the salad.

Just before serving, shake salad dressing again to emulsify it and drizzle over the salads in a spiral pattern.

9 Comments

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1. That is indeed a very ‘picturesque’ salad…thanks for the recipe, Barbara.

   Comment by sunita — October 19, 2007 #

2. This sounds really good…I’m a big fan of vinaigrettes, and I’ve been meaning to try more things with pomegranate, so thanks for sharing this!

   Comment by Jim — October 19, 2007 #

3. Another black walnut lover! No, not me, my older brother absolutely goes ‘nuts’ for them. I wonder if the black walnut gene and the cilantro gene are the same one? (I have to say no to cilantro, as well)
   However, I substitute my walnuts for yours and the salads is perfect for me, too!

   Comment by Katie — October 19, 2007 #

4. Morganna is so fortunate to have a mother able to teach her knife & plating skills. What a beautiful salad.

   Comment by Grace — October 19, 2007 #

5. sounds great… just curious — did you find pomegranates somewhere already this year, or was that pic from last winter? They seem to be the most seasonal of fruits (try finding one in July!)
   ps loved the pic of Kat ‘n’ Cat!

   Comment by Hilarie (the pomegranate dressing queen) — October 20, 2007 #

6. Hilarie–

   They are in at Krogers–2 for 4 dollars. Not a great price yet, because it is only the beginning of the season. The ones I got for this salad were small and still a bit sourer than I like. The ones I picked up today for the kofta I am making are huge and a great balance of sweet and tart. Perfect.

   Kat and Cat are the cutest, aren’t they?

   Comment by Barbara — October 20, 2007 #

7. This looks and sounds scrumptious. I’m always looking for new salads to try out – this is going to be one of them!

   Comment by Bird's eye view — October 22, 2007 #

8. I think I missed something. I can’t find the recipe ingredients for the dressing. I love this site, just found it through Yahoo. I will be spending lots of time here, this is better than most of my cooking mags. Thanks so much.
   Peace and Love
   Caroline (The original MsChef)

   Comment by Caroline — October 24, 2007 #

9. Caroline, thank you for noting the absence of dressing ingredients in the recipe.

   They had been there, but apparently as I was editing something else, I must have cut those lines somehow and not noticed it. I do remember having trouble with the laptop that day, though.

   Anyway, I added them back in and I am glad you like the site–ask questions or make comments whenever you like–I get notifications on all comments, including ones on past posts, so if you ask a question, I will get back to you.

   Looking forward to hearing more from you as you read along!

   Comment by Barbara — October 24, 2007 #

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