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Pomegranate and Pear Salad with Parmesan Crisps

Pomegranate and Pear Salad with Parmesan Crisps

I love to cook, my mother loves to cook, so Thanksgiving is our day to play. However, it’s only going to be four of us for dinner this year, and Mom and I were talking about how to adjust the menu accordingly.

Then I threw out the idea that we jettison tradition and make something different.

The menu tentatively stands with a turkey breast stuffed with greens. And stuffing.

Because, we have to have stuffing.

But I want to make a big and beautiful winter salad, too. So, when I was at the grocery store and saw that pomegranates were only two dollars each – this salad idea popped into my head.

pomegranate

Bonus: It wasn’t expensive either. Two dollars for the pomegranate, three dollars for the greens, a dollar for the pear, and I always have parmesan around.

Boom! Big winter salad it is! Serve the salad with some mini-muffins, because why not? They’re adorable.

Parmesan

Parmesan Crisps

Ingredients:
Parmesan

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

To make the rounds, grate parmesan, and place 1 tablespoon of cheese on a baking mat. Repeat. Make sure to leave at least an inch between mounds, so they don’t bake into each other. Bake for 5-6 minutes or until melted. Don’t overcook them – they firm up as they cool.

Pomegranate and Pear Salad

Pomegranate and Pear Salad

Serves 4.

Ingredients:
4-6 cups mixed greens
1 pear, sliced (Bartlett or Bosc would work well)
½ cup pomegranate seeds*
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Toss greens with salt, sliced pear, pomegranate seeds and your favorite herbed vinaigrette. Top with parmesan mounds.

*How you remove the seeds out from the fruit is up to you. I like to quarter the pomegranate and drop it in water while I remove the seeds with a grapefruit spoon. Other people swear by halving it, and thumping the bejesus out of it with a wooden spoon. Whichever way works for you is the best way. Just don’t wear white while you do it. Pomegranates take their job of staining things very seriously.

(Photos by Launie Kettler)

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