Add a festive touch to your winter salad with bright and colorful persimmons, pomegranates, and apples. Top it off with slivers of cheese and maple-glazed walnuts for a cheerful winter persimmon salad!
Amid all the holiday baking and party prep leading up to the holidays, you may be craving more "green" foods in your diet! This Persimmon Pomegranate Salad is bright, colorful and will add a festive touch to your winter lunch or dinner salads.
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❤️ Why you'll love this persimmon salad recipe
This simple but wholesome Persimmon Pomegranate Salad begins with a bed of fresh field greens, (or greens of your choice). Top it with very thinly sliced cucumber, apple, and persimmon, then add a sprinkle of pomegranate arils (for the pretty factor.) Shavings of Manchego cheese keep it authentically Spanish, and a handful of maple-glazed walnuts add protein. Drizzle it all with Honey-Dijon dressing and dig right in!
Adding fruit to salads is one of my favorite ways to dress up a winter meal, especially when greens aren't as fresh as they are in the summer months. Using seasonal fruits and winter vegetables and adding cheese and nuts often results in exciting creations.
I make this Fennel Apple Chicken Salad with Pumpkin Spice Pecans on repeat in the fall! Try one or more of these winter salads if you're looking for more salad inspiration.
And if you're looking for more ways to enjoy persimmons, try these one-bite, pop-in-your-mouth easy appetizers: Persimmon Prosciutto Cheese Bites. You'll also love this beautiful Winter Persimmon Kale Salad!
🛒 Ingredients for Persimmon Salad
- fresh greens: using a combination of greens like spinach, arugula, romaine or baby kale makes an interesting salad.
- persimmon: Choose a Fuyu variety of persimmon
- apple, thinly sliced
- ong English cucumber, thinly sliced
- pomegranate arils
- maple glazed walnuts
- Manchego cheese, shaved or slivered, or other cheese of your choice.
- Honey-Dijon salad dressing
🍽 Instructions
- Make the dressing: Whisk the dressing ingredients together and set aside to allow flavors to blend.
- Toast the walnuts: Heat a small skillet and add ½ cup walnuts. When just beginning to brown and become fragrant, add 1 ½ tablespoons of maple syrup. Cook for a minute or so, then remove to a piece of parchment paper and allow to cool.
- Assemble the salad: Arrange the greens in a shallow bowl or on a platter. Top with thinly sliced persimmon, cucumber, apple, and cheese. Add pomegranate arils and maple-glazed walnuts. Drizzle with Honey Dijon dressing and serve.
FAQ's about persimmons
Persimmons are beautiful inside! While they're considered seedless, they do have very tiny edible seeds that form a star pattern. They look a little like a sand dollar when you slice them through their circumference.
You can leave them as round slices, or you can cut them in half. The easiest way is to cut out the stem end with a paring knife, creating a small cone shape. The stem and the small core will come out easily.
Next, cut the fruit in half from the stem end through the bottom. Then turn one of the halves half cut-side down and slice thin crosswise slices. You can cut the slices into triangles to make bite-sized pieces if you'd like.
There are two types of persimmons: Fuyu and Hachiya.
The Fuyu is the one most commonly found here in North America, as it is grown in California. It looks almost like an orange tomato, with a slightly thicker skin. It is the best choice to eat raw or to add to a salad.
The other variety, the Hachiya, must be eaten when it is very ripe, or it will taste horrible and will make your mouth very astringent. It makes good persimmon jam.
Persimmons are generally available from late October through January, making them an ideal fruit to dress up a winter salad.
🗒 More winter salad recipes
- Blackberry Kiwi Salad with Oranges
- Hearty Tuscan Salad with Creamy Gorgonzola Dressing
- Watermelon Radish Salad with Oranges
- Winter Persimmon Kale Salad
📖 Recipe
Persimmon Pomegranate Salad with Maple Walnuts
Ingredients
- 4 cups mixed field greens
- 1 medium persimmon, thinly sliced
- 1 medium apple, thinly sliced
- ¼ long English cucumber, thinly sliced
- ½ cup pomegranate arils
- ½ cup maple glazed walnuts
- 4 ounces Manchego cheese, shaved or slivered
Honey Dijon Dressing
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ clove garlic
- ½ cup olive oil, extra virgin
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
Instructions
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together and set aside to allow flavours to blend.
- Heat a small skillet and add ½ cup walnuts. When just beginning to brown and become fragrant, add 1 ½ tablespoons of maple syrup. Cook for a minute or so, then remove to a piece of parchment paper and allow to cool.
- Arrange greens on a plate, in a bowl or on a platter. Top with thinly sliced persimmon, cucumber, apple, and cheese. Add pomegranate arils and maple-glazed walnuts. Drizzle with Honey Dijon dressing and serve.
Notes
- Heat a small skillet over medium heat.
- Add ½ cup walnuts and 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup and cook, stirring occasionally until walnuts are toasted and syrup has caramelized, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with a pinch of smoked sea salt, if desired.
Gabrielle @ eyecandypopper
This is the kind of salad that makes my mouth water! Packed full of yummy things. and so fresh for this time of year, which can be a nice break from the heavier things. Yum!
Flavour & Savour
Thanks Gabby! There's always a salad of some sort on our table!
Colleen
I agree about needing some green over the holiday season. And this salad is like a flavour buffet on a plate. It sounds so delicious, pinning to my salad board!
Flavour & Savour
Thanks Colleen! It's easy to go overboard on all the rich sweets and savouries at this time of year. Salads to the rescue!
Dana
I just want to come over to your place for salad one day. You make such crunchy, crisp, and fresh salads — and the homespun vinaigrettes always sound amazing! Love everything about this.
Flavour & Savour
Good idea. You bring the fish. I'll make a big pitcher of sangria. 🙂
Natalie Browne
I’ve seen persimmons in the store, but never known what to do with them, so never picked one up. I’m definitely grabbing one to try next time I’m at the store. This salad looks so lovely for this time of year. And I like the sound of the maple Dijon walnuts.
Flavour & Savour
Thanks Natalie, In Spain they were so plentiful that they were served quartered on large platters for breakfast in some of the hotels we stayed in. They're more expensive here, so I sliced them really thinly!
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices
I just love adding fruit and nuts (and cheese) to my salad! And I love persimmons, I grew up with them, either the hard variety or the soft one, but I cannot find them here. Well, the varieties you mentioned are similar, but not too close to what I know 🙂 . This salad is beautiful and the flavors together are delicious! 5 stars!
Flavour & Savour
Thanks!! I'm with you on the idea of loading up a salad with fruit and nuts. They're available here, but more difficult to find than in Spain where they were as common as oranges and apples!