Sometimes lettuce is just not good enough. With its peppery spiciness, arugula has a refreshing bite. In Southern California, even though it gets cold in the Winter, arugula thrives in the year-round sunshine, so we're able to buy fat bunches any time of the year for $1.00/bunch.
Persimmons and pomegranates are more seasonal. When they're all available, our favorite salad is a simple combination of all three. <Suzanne Goin created a complex salad with all these ingredients. I used her recipe as a starting point, choosing to simplify the ingredients and directions.
The combination of tastes is near perfect: peppery arugula, sweet persimmon, tart pomegranate seeds, and crunchy hazelnuts, all held together by the emulsion of olive oil and reduced balsamic vinegar.
Arugula Salad with Persimmons & Pomegranate Seeds
Yield: serves 4
Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
1 bunch arugula, washed, stems trimmed
2 persimmons, washed, peeled, thin sliced
1/4 pomegranate, washed, peeled, to yield 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
1 tablespoon hazelnuts, roasted, peeled, crushed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, slowly reduced to 1 tablespoon
Method
Tear the arugula leaves off the stem and put into a salad bowl. Add the sliced persimmons and pomegranate seeds. Drizzle with olive oil and reduced balsamic vinegar. Crush the hazelnuts with the flat of a chefs knife and sprinkle them on the salad.
Toss and season to taste with freshly ground black pepper.
David Latt is an Emmy-award winning television producer who turns to cooking to alleviate stress. He shares his experiences with food and his favorite recipes on his blog Men Who Like To Cook.