I always crave something light and healthy after all the indulging during Thanksgiving. Sometimes it’s a smoothie full of fruit, a vegan dish full of vegetables, or a salad full of both. Salads are so versatile, and I love the challenge of mixing flavors and textures to create a good one. That’s why I decided to give this Apple Pomegranate Salad a try. It’s full of fruit, vegetables, and nuts with a balsamic dressing. Plus there’s feta, one of my favorite cheeses. It looks colorful in the photo, and I’m hoping I can recreate this lovely dish. Let’s find out!
The whole family will love this amazing pomegranate salad! Made with crisp apple slices, crunchy + sweet pomegranate seeds, and lots of greens paired with a simple balsamic dressing.
The Ingredients
I had all the ingredients for the balsamic dressing, but I had to shop for the salad ingredients. That was not a problem—my usual grocery store had everything.
This recipe’s ingredients list is full of options (and I do love a flexible recipe). I went with feta and pecans for the toppings. Tip: Pecan pieces usually cost less than pecan halves, and no chopping is necessary.
My husband doesn’t like raw kale, so I chose spring greens with a couple of handfuls of leftover baby spinach leaves. I made Italian Skillet Chicken and had some extra spinach. This was a great way to use up the extra.
The Process
Once in a while, I can find pomegranate seeds, but all I could find on this shopping trip was a whole pomegranate. That meant I had to seed it before I could make my Apple Pomegranate Salad.
I seeded the pomegranate a couple of days before I made my salad. It took me 6 minutes, and 1 pomegranate gave me all the seeds I need with a little extra. Seeding a pomegranate isn’t difficult, but it is messy. I highly recommend doing it in your kitchen sink.
When I was ready to make my salad, I was delighted to find it was very easy. Buying pre-washed greens, crumbled feta, and pecan pieces took out a lot of work. I did have to thinly slice the apples, but my apple corer/slicer tool helped a lot. I managed to get 3-4 slices from each wedge.
To get the look in the photo I did not mix the ingredients. I added the greens and then placed the sliced apples around the bowl. Then I sprinkled on the toppings and about half the pomegranate seeds.
One cup of pomegranate seeds is a lot! They would have covered everything else, so I kept them on the side for photos. I added them in when I mixed the salad right before we ate.
The final step was to add the dressing ingredients to a bottle, shake, and pour over the salad. I poured some of it over the salad and mixed it. The bottle was placed on the table when I served it so more could be added if desired. Everyone did because it was so good!
The salad potion took me 8 minutes. That’s over the 5-minutes total listed, but I have to admit I took my time slicing the apples so they looked good for photos. I’m sure it will go faster next time I make it.
