This Pomegranate Apple Walnut Salad is pretty as a picture and ready to be served. The colors make it perfect for the holidays.

This would be a beautiful addition to your Valentine's Day or Christmas dinner. And butter lettuce is my husband's favorite, so this is a definite go-to recipe in my house.

The salad goes together easily, most of the work is in opening the pomegranate. You can also buy the pomegranate arils in the produce section ready to use. (But they're definitely not as good.)

Prepping this Salad Ahead of Time

2 Days in Advance

Pomegranate - Open the pomegranate and store the arils in a sealed container in the fridge.

Salad Dressing - The delicious dressing is a nice counterpoint of tangy and sweet and can be made a couple days ahead of time.

When ready to use, remove from the fridge about an hour ahead of time to come to room temperature. You will need to shake it a couple of times to bring the ingredients together again.

Glazed Walnuts - Normally I buy these, but the last time I made this salad all the grocery stores were out, so I made my own the day before.

Tarragon Leaves - Wash, dry, and remove from the stems. Measure out one-quarter cup and store sealed in the fridge.

Cool and store in an air tight container until ready to use. (These can actually be made up to 4 days ahead of time.)

1 Day Ahead of Time

Lettuce - You can make this with just about any greens if you can't find or don't like butter lettuce. But the mildness of the butter lettuce is the perfect vehicle for the other, stronger flavors.

The lettuce can be cleaned and torn up a day ahead of time. Store in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.

Two Ways to Serve this Salad

Family Style

Assemble the prepared ingredients. Wash and cut the apple, then combine the lettuce, pomegranate seeds, walnuts and apple in a salad bowl.

Start by pouring half of the dressing over the salad and tossing. If you feel you'd like more dressing, then add it. If you're fine with the amount, then proceed to the next step.

Use just enough dressing to cover the leaves; that way you get the crunch of the lettuce and the flavors of the dressing shine. Less is more, if you need to add, it's much easier than taking away!

Once you have enough dressing on the salad add the tarragon leaves and the bleu cheese, toss and serve.

Individual Plated Salads

Toss the lettuce with the salad dressing to just coat. Then put the lettuce on your salad plates. Or, leave the lettuce dry and pass a small pitcher of the dressing for each person to add their own.

Cut thin slices of apple instead of chunks. Lay a few of the slices on the side of the lettuce. Then sprinkle the salad with the walnuts, pomegranate seeds, tarragon leaves and bleu cheese.

Serve this gorgeous salad to your delighted friends and family!

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Pomegranate Apple Walnut Salad

I love my Bon Appétit magazines and this has been adapted from Bon Appétit, January 2012

Prep Time25 mins

Total Time25 mins

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Pomegranate Apple Walnut Salad, Shallot Vinaigrette

Servings: 8 serivngs

Author: Anna

Ingredients

Salad

• 2 large heads of butter lettuce, cored, washed and torn into pieces
• 1 ½ cups glazed walnuts, the easy way is to buy them already glazed!
• 1 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1 Honeycrisp or Fuji apple
• 1 recipe Honey Shallot Vinaigrette, see below
• ¼ cup loosely packed tarragon leaves
• 2 ounces crumbled Stilton or Maytag blue cheese, about ½ cup
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, if desired

Vinaigrette

• 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 Tablespoon finely chopped shallot
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, We like Sir Kensington's here at Great Eight Friends!
• ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Salad

• Place the torn lettuce leaves in a large bowl.
• Core and cut the apples into bite sized chunks OR see *Gr8 Serving Tip.
• To the lettuce add the walnuts, pomegranate seeds and apples, see *Gr8 Serving Tip.
• Start with adding half of the dressing and toss to coat, add more dressing as needed to fully coat the salad.
• Add the tarragon leaves and cheese, toss until the ingredients are well distributed. (I leave the cheese off the salad and pass it in a small bowl if I am serving guests who may not like blue cheese...like my son!)
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Vinaigrette

• In a small bowl whisk together the vinegar, honey, shallot and mustard.
• While whisking, gradually add the oil and whisk until well combined.
• Season to taste with the salt and pepper.

Notes

Gr8 Tip:

You can also put the ingredients into a jar, seal and shake until fully incorporated.

Gr8 Serving Tip:

If you are plating the salads individually (for a romantic dinner for two, maybe), slice the apples just before serving and fan them out on the side of the salad. This makes a pretty presentation!

Gr8 Do-Ahead Tip:

The dressing can be made up to 3 days in advance. Keep refrigerated in a sealed container. Bring to room temperature when ready to use.

Tried this recipe?Mention @Great8Friends or tag #gr8food!