Pomegranate Salad with Savory Soy Vinaigrette
This pomegranate salad recipe is bright, fresh and fruity. Add as many pomegranate arils as you want because it can never really be too much.
Pomegranate Salad Recipe
I have my little red seasonal joys, those tiny flavorful things that are plentiful this time of year—-pomegranate arils! These juicy, tangy, sour, sweet pops of flavor are such perfect accompaniments to salads. It’s amazing how simple additions can change the whole dynamic of a salad. When my salads feel lost and lacking, I love adding fresh fruit for that missing piece of the puzzle. In Autumn and Winter, I feel so fortunate that our pomegranate trees dangle huge red orbs in our face, reminding us that pomegranates can be enjoyed in a bundle of frilly greens.
Gigantic garden pomegranate! “Almost” bigger than my head.
Fresh Fruity Salad
I’ve been seriously lacking in eating salads as of late and blame it all on oven cooking because it’s so much more therapeutic to dig my face into a hot casserole on a cold day. Anyone with me on this? But after reading David’s splendid post on How to Make French Vinaigrette, I’m reminded of two things: it’s time to eat salad again and I’ve been butchering the classic the French Vinaigrette with my soy sauce. My apologies to fine Frenchman like Romain to set me straight.
Soy Sauce for Umami Flavor
I love soy sauce for this pomegranate salad recipe makes the dressing amazing. My parents seasoned everything with fish sauce and soy sauce for umami depth to their cooking, so naturally, I evolved into the same type of cook: forget the salt, pass the soy sauce! I blame it all on Mom and Dad.
Juicy sweet tart pomegranate arils for pomegranate salad
Maybe I should just stop the blame and accept that fact that I do love making Romain and David’s French vinaigrette recipe with soy sauce. I obviously can’t call it a true French Vinaigrette anymore, but maybe I can still call it a Soy Vinaigrette? Or maybe Vinaigrette a la Soy Sauce? or Franco Asian Vinaigrette avec Soy Sauce? Regardless of what’s it’s called, I thank David & Romaine for teaching me how to make it right and maybe I’ll let go of the soy sauce and reach for the salt someday.
The soy sauce adds lots of exceptional flavor to the dressing for me and this pomegranate salad recipe adds the perfect fruity balance to the dressing. Salads that are loaded with flavor, delicate texture and simple ingredients are my favorite. Just simple, crisp, fresh lettuce and my pommy seeds make a fabulously seasonal pomegranate salad. Everyone that has ever had this pomegranate salad has walked away happy, satisfied and a even bit confused that they just had a French vinaigrette with soy sauce in it. Oh well, I’ll get it right one day. Oui Oui!
Pommy happy,
-diane
More Pomegranate Recipes:
- Our refreshing pomegranate spritzers
- Party time pomegranate margarita recipe
- Steamy Kitchen’s great video tutorial on How to open a pomegranate without making it look like a murder scene
- Former Chef’s Butternut Squash with Pancetta and Pomegranate Recipe
Pomegranate Salad Recipe with Soy Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 head lettuce , washed, drained, torn
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (1 small pomegranate)
Instructions
- In small bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients (soy sauce, red wine vinegar, shallots, dijon mustard, olive oil, and thyme).
- In large bowl, add lettuce. Add dressing to lettuce and gently toss. After plating the salad on individual plates, toss pomegranate arils on top.
I love these little pop-flavor-in-your-mouth arils! The color in a salad is lovely and so very seasonal. I did something similar a couple years ago- everybody loved it. Will have to try your recipe now.
Why not?? I’m French and I’m ready to adopt the soy sauce in my vinaigrette!!! (well.. I was already putting honey sometimes, which would also get me in trouble with purists!) 😉
Melanie- Yes! support from a Frenchwoman, thanks! Go for the soy!
Random but I just wanted to let you guys know we’ve been making the roasted brussels sprouts with balsamic a lot lately…sooo delicious. It was one of the sides we brought to a Thanksgiving potluck and people commented they were like candy. Plus, two people had NEVER eaten brussels sprouts before and love them!
Sarah- That’s fabulous that everyone loved them. Thanks for making them and being such a positive brussels sprouts advocate!
So, so pretty! Since you have a tree, have you ever tried juicing the seeds? Seems like it might be more trouble than it’s worth, no?
I find myself adding Pomegranate seeds into everything lately. My latest favorite is in a pita with hummus and roasted chicken! Oh yeah, and in that butternut squash soup (thanks for the link). 😉
Kristina- Yes, we have juiced the seeds many times and it’s alot of work, not to mention, messy! But it’s worth it if you have plenty of extra pom’s like we do. The flavor of fresh pomegranate juice is exceptional!
So perfect after Thanksgiving! Hope you had a wonderful holiday!
LL
Wow…that’s a huge pomegranate! Thank you for the easy & festive recipe!
I love adding pomegranate to my salads, tasty and colorful! Love this one!
I’ve never been much into pomegranates until recently. I actually got the arils out of the monster fruit all by myself and put together a healthy holiday side dish for Thanksgiving… with roasted romanesco broccoli and cauliflower. It was very pretty. Gorgeous, gorgeous photos, my dear!
Glad you like the recipe. There’s a restaurant in Lyon that is famous for it’s “secret” salad dressing. I went and the salad was great, and the friend who I was with (who is a chef), when I asked him if he could guess what the secret was, he said, “Soy sauce.”
So I guess, technically, your dressing is French. Although if you at some point decide to add fish sauce, all bets are off..
David- Yay! I’m not such a crazie after all. Now, thinking about the fish sauce. Hmmm….
Oh the pomegranate and I have had a love affair ever since my Dad introduced them to me when I was just a little one. Every year I wait till they show up at the grocery store and squeal when I see them! I only wish I could grow them here. To have one bigger than my head – I can only wish, lol.
Lisa- You squeal when you see them? cool! we’ll have to remember that for next year….
those pomegranates haunt me – why o’ why can’t we have those here in NYC!
wow! that pomegranate is ridiculous! congrats on your gardening prowess.
I never really understood all the hoopla around pomegranates when I lived in NY – they made a mess, they were hard to eat, and they weren’t even that sweet. Then I moved to California. The pomegranates at the farmers markets here are simply incredible! They shouldn’t even be called the same thing as the ones in NY. I can’t even image how sweet they are right off your tree.
Allison- It’s great that you found new love in pomegranates. There are huge pomegranate farms in Southern California that grow some of the best pomegranates in the world. So our farmers markets are brimming with the best!
And right off the tree? absolutely wonderful!
Nicole spaz- Thank you and continue to work hard. I wish the biggest and bountiful garden to come your way soon. xoxo
Your pomegrantes are amazing. I remember my first pomegrante and the shirt and dishtowels I ruined. It was well with it though. I’m jealous of your garden. I keep telling myself that I will one day have some place of my own.
Lovely and simple, thank you!
I also blame my mom for instilling the soy sauce-grabbing habit.
Hanna- LOL! Isn’t it so true? But the blame is a good blame, I wouldn’t live and eat any other way.