Holiday Menu Item: Pomegranate, Maple-Glazed Pecan and Feta Salad

This healthy salad is a beautiful complement to any holiday meal. Fresh pomegranate arils (seeds), Greek feta cheese, and maple-glazed pecans gently kissed with a splash of the most heavenly nectar-in-the-form-of-a-vinegar imaginable... O Olive Oil's Pomegranate Champagne Vinegar. It's got a slightly fruity note with a subtle sweetness. So good it doesn't need an oil accompaniment. This vinegar was in the sample pack O Olive Oil sent to me but I also purchased it at Whole Foods for  not one, but two of my friends. Yes, it's that good.

O Pomegranate Champagne Vinegar

Even by salad standards, this is an easy one to pull together. I used maple-glazed pecans I picked up at Whole Foods, my favorite Greek feta cheese from Bristol Farms, organic mixed greens that were pre-washed and ready to use, and a fresh pomegranate that I cut in half and extracted (picked out with  the tines of a fork) the seeds. I don't recommend this extraction method because I kind of splashed myself with ruby red pomegranate juice in the process, but some markets now sell fresh pomegranate arils/seeds, so you don't have to deal with the ruby mess if you don't want to.


Better yet, why not follow the Foodie Nutritionist's step-by-step photo instructions for extracting the seeds the correct and non-messy way - How to Open a Pomegranate.


In any case, for this salad you save the step of needing to make a dressing. Just splash a little of the Pomegranate Champagne Vinegar atop and you're in business. Btw, I'm putting this vinegar under the heading of "vinegars so good you can drink them from the bottle".

Pomegranate, Maple-Glazed Pecan and Feta Salad

Ingredients (quantities at your discretion):

mixed greens, washed and air dried

pomegranate arils/seeds (I used less than half of one pomegranate for a salad for 4)

maple-glazed pecans

Greek feta cheese, crumbled

O Pomegranate Champagne Vinegar

In large bowl place greens, pomegranate arils, pecans and feta cheese. Gently toss. Splash vinegar on salad before serving.

A nice salad to offset this decadent side:  Sunny's Mashed Potatoes

PS - I've been experimenting with turkey preparations lately and I have a couple I'll be posting soon - one is "Turkey for Two" using a bone-in turkey breast, and the other is "Turkey for Ten", a traditional preparation with a twist.

And if you're looking for the freshest, free range, high quality turkeys available and you happen to be near The Meat House - I highly recommend giving them a call and placing an order. I am currently in Texas and not near one (they have one in Austin but I'm in Dallas), so I've opted for fresh Butterball's, but if I could have my choice, it would definitely be The Meat House.