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A bright and colorful salad that tastes as good as it looks! My Pomegranate and Pear Salad with Citrus Dressing is the perfect starter or accompaniment to a special holiday dinner.
Heavy Meals are Better with A Light and Delicious Salad
Turkey and mashed potatoes, prime rib and Yorkshire pudding, ham and scalloped potatoes. And, of course, lots and lots of desserts.
Heavy meals and holidays seem to go hand in hand, don’t they? And that’s all right. If there was ever a time to indulge, the holidays are that time. So, go ahead. Have the pie! It’s a party!
But whenever I sit down to tuck into a heavy meal, I’m always happy to see a fresh, light, gorgeous salad served alongside it.
And my Pomegranate and Pear Salad with Citrus Dressing makes me very happy indeed! The lighter and brighter flavors of fresh, multi-colored greens dressed with a tangy vinaigrette are a welcome, palate-pleasing foil to savory, often heavier dishes.
Making Salad Special: Pomegranate and Pear Salad with Citrus Dressing
I’ll be the first to admit that salad sometimes doesn’t feel very festive, especially during the holidays. So often, salad feels like that thing we’re supposed to eat, rather than something we want to eat.
When I’m making a holiday dinner, I want every single thing on the table to look special, like something you definitely want to eat. How do I do that? By bringing in as much color and flavor as possible.
A sprinkling of ruby red pomegranate arils is a great place to begin. And the tangy sweet flavor of the pomegranate juice tastes terrific when paired with fresh, slightly bitter winter greens.
Speaking of greens, for this salad I’ve used a mild, tender mixed baby lettuce. Then I added chopped radicchio and endive for an even more beautiful color and a slightly bitter bite. We don’t always think of bitter as being a desirable flavor, but it adds complexity to and wakes up your palate. Also, the bitterness is balanced out by the sweeter citrus dressing.
Rounding out the whole thing is a mellow, creamy, and slightly tangy flavor of blue cheese and juicy, perfectly ripe pears. (This salad puts those boxes of holiday pears to good use.) Put it all together and you’ve got a truly showstopping salad, one people will really want to eat!
Pomegranate and Pear Salad with Citrus Dressing – It Goes with Everything!
When it comes to the holidays, people often have a menu that they make and enjoy year after year. Traditionally, we’ve had prime rib at Christmas but I’m changing things up a little this year by serving my Perfect Boston Butt Pork Roast.
This Pomegranate and Pear Salad with Citrus Dressing is going to pair beautifully with tender pork roast, potato pancakes, and homemade applesauce I’ll be serving for dinner. But this salad will fit in well with almost any holiday menu.
Whether you’re serving your family’s favorite beef, pork, poultry, or fish dish, this salad rises to any special occasion and will hold its own at the holiday table.
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Pomegranate and Pear Salad with Citrus Dressing
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
Ingredients
For Salad:
- 6 cups mixed baby lettuces or other mild salad greens
- 1 small head radicchio, chopped
- 2 heads endive, cored and chopped
- 1 cup pomegranate arils
- 2 ripe pears, thinly sliced
- 6 oz crumbled blue cheese
For Dressing:
- 1 large orange, juice of (approximately 1/3 cup)
- 2 tsp fresh orange zest
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 T white balsamic vinegar (can sub rice vinegar)
- 1 T Dijon Mustard (can sub brown mustard)
- 2 tsp honey
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Place lettuce, radicchio, and endive in a large salad bowl and toss combine. Top with pomegranate arils, pears, and blue cheese.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk the orange juice, orange zest, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning. (Makes approximately one cup of vinaigrette. Reserve extra for another use.)
- Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat thoroughly with dressing. Serve immediately.
