Asian Pear Pomegranate Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

This is the salad recipe we used for our portion of First Congregational Church’s Progressive Dinner 10/14/2012.  Serves 4 adults as listed.

Salad Ingredients:

1 Pomegranate

1 Bunch of watercress, rinsed and dried, large stems removed, roughly chopped

2 Heads bibb or Boston lettuce, rinsed and dried, torn into pieces

2 Endives, cored and thinly sliced lengthwise

1 Asian pear, cored and cut into very thin slices

1 Jazz apple, cored and  thinly sliced (if not available use a sweet apple)

½ cup walnuts, toasted and  roughly chopped

4 ounces of Gorgonzola cheese (we forgot to add this to our salad)

Raspberry Vinaigrette Ingredients:

3 tablespoons raspberry vinegar

4 tablespoons fresh orange juice with high pulp

6-10 crushed raspberries

1 teaspoon  real maple syrup (can sub honey)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon chopped shallot

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons canola oil

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

In a large bowl, combine the watercress, lettuce and endives.  Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking the ingredients, add salt & pepper to taste.

Just before serving, add just enough dressing to coat the greens and toss well.  Place salad on a large shallow serving platter.  Top the greens with sliced pears, apples, pomegranate seeds, walnuts and cheese.  Drizzle a little more dressing over all and serve remaining dressing on the side.

This is a beautiful and tasty salad that can be altered according to seasons to sub in seasonal fruits in the recipe.