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Everyone, meet my go-to holiday salad, the Pomegranate Avocado Salad with Candied Walnuts.
To be honest, salads can often bore me, I mean, I love them, but I find most to be lacking in flavor and heartiness. With every new season, I like to create a salad or two that’s anything but boring and all things delicious. I think that fall is my very favorite salad season. I know summer is full of produce, but fall has pomegranates and persimmons and they are two fruits I love adding to salads.
This pretty salad is my Thanksgiving salad, and it basically includes all the things I love…and is healthy too!
It’s a combo of mixed salad greens, spicy maple candied walnuts, sweet persimmons, avocado, pomegranate, blue cheese, and the most delicious pomegranate vinaigrette. It’s pretty, light, and the perfect addition to all holiday tables from now until New Years.
No matter what your feelings are on salad, if you’re serving any kind of holiday meal, you need to have something fresh and green on the table. Not only is this good for visual appeal, but greens compliment most dishes and act as balancer for heavier dishes…you know like this butternut squash lasagna and this cream of pumpkin soup.
The thing I love most about this salad is the use of my favorite seasonal fruits, pomegranates and persimmons, creamy avocado, sweet and spicy walnuts, and my favorite blue cheese.
It’s a simple salad, but it is also full of bold flavors and so many textures. I love the sweet fruits paired with the spicy walnuts, and bold blue cheese, they’re the perfect combo. That said, I know blue cheese is not for everyone, so if you’d like use to another cheese, I think crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese would both be delicious.
While this salad is great for entertaining, it’s also equally great as a light lunch or as part of your dinner tonight. Which I don’t know about you guys, but salad is something I am totally craving right now.
My mom and I have spent the last few days eating delicious pasta (and bread) at Via Carota (along with a brussels sprout salad…which was equally delicious), making cheese boards with the Feed Feed and so much more. Today it’s pizza at Tony’s with Cherry Bomb Magazine, and then off to the Buzzfeed headquarters to film a new video from the HBH Cookbook. We have dinner plans with my editor and team at Clarkson Potter at and then it’s off to bed…I hope!
Tomorrow is our last day in the city. I have the morning off, but then it’s back to meetings in the afternoon and then straight to the airport to head home to Colorado. It’s been a little busy this week, so I can’t wait to start telling you all about our NYC trip soon! If there are any last minutes places we need to check out, let me know!
For now, let’s get this salad on you Thanksgiving menu.
Speaking of which, how is the Thanksgiving planing coming along for everyone? We are exactly two weeks away from the big day. As mentioned I am heading to Cleveland for Thanksgiving this year, so it’s going to be a little different, but I have to say that I’m excited for some time off with my family! What are your guys most looking forward to?
Pomegranate Avocado Salad with Candied Walnuts
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups raw walnuts
- 1/3 cup real maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 6 cups mustard greens or mixed greens
- 2 cups baby arugula
- 2 persimmons, thinly sliced
- 1 avocado, sliced
- arils from 1-2 pomegranates
- 6 ounces blue cheese, crumbed, (or goat cheese or feta)
Pomegranate Vinaigrette
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate juice
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the walnuts to the baking sheet and toss with the maple syrup, cayenne and a pinch of salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring 2-3 time throughout cooking until the walnuts are toasted and golden. Remove from the oven and spread the walnuts in one layer. Allow to cool.2. Add the greens to a large bowl. Add the persimmons, avocado, pomegranate arils, walnuts, and blue cheese. Give the salad a gentle toss.3. To make the vinaigrette, combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pomegranate juice, orange zest, and a pinch each of salt an pepper in a bowl or glass jar. Drizzle the dressing over the salad or serve along side the salad. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
PS. I love when food is this pretty and also SO GOOD.
Great recipe, thank you! I had almost all the needed ingredients so tried it with last nights dinner. I will probably serve it on Thanksgiving too. It will be even better in a couple of weeks when the arugula in the garden will be ready to be added.
That is so amazing! I am so glad this turned out so well for you ! xTieghan
Such a hit! I made this recently for a Friendsgiving and dare I say, it stole the show! So many beautiful textures and flavors, I especially appreciate the slight kick from the cayenne on the walnuts. I live in a fairly rural area so substituted anjou pears for persimmons.
AMAZING! I am so glad everyone loved this recipe Mary! Thank you! xTieghan
If you don’t have access to pomegranates due to them being out of season, what fruit would you recommend as a replacement?
Any berry would be really amazing in this recipe! Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, or even stone fruits like cherries and peaches! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
I made your Pomegranate Avocado Salad with Candied Walnuts, and the flavors in that were a hit. The recommended amount of greens seemed off (too much, even when I halved it) —maybe rather than cups, a weight might be a better measure? Photography and styling are lovely. I look forward to more of your work.
I am so glad you enjoyed this salad, Elaine! Thank you so much!
I made this salad for Thanksgiving and I have to tell you it’s my favorite salad ever! I had to sub slivered almonds for the nuts because my son is allergic to walnuts, and they we’re so good, they barely made it on the salad! I’ve made it twice since then and I’m addicted! Yum!
That is so great! Thank you Nikki!
Delicious salad! I’m going to make this recipe, because it’s going to be delicious. Thank you!
I hope you love this! Thank you!
I have all the ingredients ready and will be making this, minus persimmons because I cannot find any, for our Thanksgiving table! Just the colors alone make me want to have this! Thanks!
Thank you! I hope you love this!
Loved this salad. I hope you share more winter greens/salads. They might just be my favorite 🙂
Thank you Libby!!
yummm, this looks amazing. I am making this for lunch today for my son and I while meat-loving husband is out of town. Mmmm…
Perfect! Enjoy!
Holiday salads are the best and this one is a beauty! Definitely adding it to the menu! 🙂
Perfect! I hope you love it!
Hey Tieghan,
This salad looks beautiful and I love the persimmons and pomegranate! I also think the addition of blue cheese would be nice with the sweet fruit and nutty walnuts. I can’t wait to make this as a pre thanksgiving dish. I’m glad you’re having such a nice time in NYC and I’m looking forward to hearing all about it! I recommend City Cakes or Chip NYC for their cookies(!), Miley Likes it Ice Cream, or Chefs Club Counter(!!) haha if you get a chance. Also, Dough donuts (for donuts before your flight ?).
I hope you have an incredible last day and a safe trip back. 🙂
Hi Kristin! I am so glad you like this salad! Thank you + thank you for these suggestions!
Hi Tieghan, first of all, beautifully photographed! As usual. Imagine my surprise when I saw the first picture and it had persimmons in it…and blue cheese! For the first time I can remember you didn’t list every major ingredient in the title!! Bravo, are you learning to self edit your titles? LOL This salad is so loaded with texture and flavor, perfect for the vegetarians at our Thanksgiving table! Enjoy your last day in NYC. Enjoy your Thanksgiving in Cleveland with the family.
Hi Carol! Thank you so much! I am so glad you like this salad and I hope it turns out great for you!
Tieghaaaaan, why are you doing this to me?! I have a rule that I cannot have fruits for lunch sooner than two weeks apart. And I’m having it just TODAY! Infact, it is very similar to this, such a funny coincidence: salad of lettuce, butternut squash, pomegranate arils, Brie cheese and pecans! To be honest – prepared this inspired by several your previous recipes.. I combined a few of them into one, picking this and that from each of a couple of yours. I originally wanted to throw in an avocado too, but it wasn’t ripe enough ? and moreover, the first idea was to use blue cheese but I had the Brie open in the fridge so I didn’t want it to go bad, so I incorporated that in.
Now it seems like I have to wait two long weeks to allow myself prepare this goodness because it looks amazing. It contains everything I love! Persimmons and pomegranates are my favourite autumn fruits, avocado rocks my world all year round and I am always nuts about nuts. And cheese? Do I need to even talk about it? Blue type, especially oooey gooey gorgonzola, is to die for! I am sooo pumped about this salad, it couldn’t go any better! … maybe.. Me being me, I will put in some pumpkin or squash, because, why the heck not?!
Oh man! Well, I hope you enjoy this salad two weeks from now when you can make it! Thank you so much!
Beautiful salad Tieghan. I so badly want to be a blue cheese lover, but sometimes I just can’t. Maybe a cambozola to keep it on the user friendly side of blue cheese. Have a fab last day in NYC!
Thank you Debs!
Such a gorgeous salad! Wishing you the best last NYC day.
Thank you Liz!