“Healthy” and “holiday” are words rarely used together, especially when describing food. Trying to plan healthy meals during the holidays can be quite a struggle, right? Well, not necessarily. This past Thanksgiving, I served my family a visually appealing, texturally satisfying, and heart-healthy salad. Not only did this salad splendidly highlight fall fruit, such as persimmons, Asian pears, pomegranates, and ruby grapefruit, it was served with a delicate, FAT-FREE, slightly sweet and slightly tart salad dressing! This salad has it all: gorgeous to look at, easy to prepare, and a delight to eat!
Fall Fruit Salad
Recipe from November 1995 issue of Sunset Magazine
Ingredients:
1 to 2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 firm-ripe Fuyu persimmons (1/2 lb. each)
2 ruby grapefruit (1 lb. each)
1 Asian pear (about 3/4 lb.)
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
2 to 3 cups frisée, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup pomegranate seed
Salt
Directions:
1. In a 6- to 8-inch frying pan over medium heat, frequently stir pine nuts until pale gold, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour from pan.
2. Rinse persimmons, then trim off and discard leaf tops. Slice persimmons crosswise into thin rounds.
3. With a knife, cut peel and white membrane from grapefruit. Holding fruit over a bowl, cut between segments and inner membrane to release fruit into bowl. Also squeeze juice from membrane into bowl, then discard membrane.
4. Rinse pear and discard stem. Cut fruit crosswise into thin rounds, right through center seeds. Coat pear slices with grapefruit juice.
5. Mix 3 tablespoons grapefruit juice (reserve remainder for other uses) with lime juice, rice vinegar, and honey.
6. Line a salad bowl or individual plates with the frisée. Arrange pieces of persimmon, pear, grapefruit on the greens; sprinkle fruit with pomegranate seed and pine nuts, then moisten with the grapefruit-lime dressing. Add salt to taste.
Serves 6
Linnell’s Notes:
1. Fuyu persimmons are the round, squat persimmons that can be eaten while they are firm, unlike the elongated and pointed Hachiya persimmons, which must be eaten only after the fruit has ripened to a soft and somewhat squishy state.
2. Besides a light sprinkling of salt, I also sprinkled some fresh ground pepper on each plated salad.
3. Keep an eye on the pine nuts while toasting them. They contain a high level of oil, so they will burn quickly!
4. My family is not a big fan of frisée, so I substituted fresh green curly-leafed lettuce.
5. It is easier to peel the grapefruit, if you first cut off the top and the bottom peel. This will give you a flat surface when you stand the grapefruit on the cutting board.
ENJOY!
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