Cooksister | Food, Travel, Photography

Food, photos & faraway places

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • About me
    • Contact me
    • Work with me
    • Legal
      • Copyright notice & Disclaimer
      • Disclosure
      • Cookies and Privacy Policy
    • Press and media
    • Cooksister FAQs
  • RECIPES
    • Recipe Index – by course
    • Baking (savoury)
    • Braai/Barbecue
    • Breakfast & brunch
    • Christmas
    • Dessert
    • Drinks
    • Eggs
    • Fish
    • Gluten-free
    • Leftovers
    • Pasta & rice
    • Poultry
    • Pulses
    • Salads
    • Soup
    • South African
    • Starters & light meals
    • Vegan
    • Vegetables
    • Vegetarian
  • RESTAURANTS
    • British Isles restaurants
    • Dubai restaurants
    • France restaurants
    • London restaurants
    • Montenegro restaurants
    • New York restaurants
    • Pop-ups and supperclubs
    • Serbia restaurants
    • Singapore restaurants
    • South Africa restaurants
    • Sweden restaurants
    • Switzerland restaurants
    • USA restaurants
  • TRAVEL
    • All my travel posts
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Canada
      • Dubai
      • Cruise ships
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Grenada
      • Hong Kong
      • Hotel reviews
      • Italy
      • Israel
      • Jersey
      • Mexico
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Singapore
      • Ski & snow
      • South Africa
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • UK
      • USA
      • Wales
  • PORTFOLIO
    • Freelance writing portfolio
    • Speaking and teaching
    • Photography portfolio
    • Buy my photos
You are here: Home / Recipes / Fruit / Pomegranate, pear, fennel and rocket salad

Pomegranate, pear, fennel and rocket salad

by Jeanne Horak on February 5, 2007 12 Comments in Fruit, Gluten-free, Salads, Vegan

Pomegranate, pear, fennel & rocket salad

I have to admit that I am something of a salad slacker.  Not to say that I don’t love salads – on the contrary, I do!  But the problem is that by the time I have finished faffing around with the main course, I am not in the mood for dreaming up an exotic salad, so we end up having the absolute standard lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion and bell pepper salad (and anyway, I think this is secretly the salad Nick prefers!).  I am also somewhat of a slacker when it comes to seasonal eating.  Partly, I blame this on a kind of seasonal jet-lag induced by living in a hemisphere where you didn’t grow up.  I still remember strawberries as being associated with Christmas and being off the shelves by my birthday in March, or loads of oranges and satsumas being available in the chill of June – just in time for rugby players to get orange wedges to snack on at half-time 😉  So let’s just say that my food cravings are often out of synch with the northern hemisphere seasons!!  Of course, you can get any fruit at any time of the year in London, but I have discovered that no matter how tempting those imported December strawberries at Waitrose might look, they will disappoint you in terms of taste 🙁  Not to mention the food miles issues!

A couple of weeks ago, I had some friends over for lunch and while wandering the aisles of my local supermarket seeking inspiration, I found a pack of chicken livers.  Yaaaaay!  I know, I know, I need to get out more… but you must understand that up to now our local supermarkets have stubbornly not sold chicken livers!  I am used to South Africa where chicken livers take up a yard-long stretch of the chest freezers in most supermarkets and are never a problem to obtain, but out in the wilds of E16, some marketing genius has obviously decided that there isn’t enough of a market, so they don’t stock them.  Until now!  I was so overjoyed at finding them in our local Sainsbury’s that I bought a few packets and immediately decided to make a chicken liver paté starter for the abovementioned lunch.  The immediate next question was what to serve with the pate.  I definitely wander something light and salad-ish, but I also wanted it to have fairly strident flavours to stand up to the pate.  And maybe a touch of sweetness would work with the paté.  Oh yes – and a seasonal hat-tip would be nice too 😉 I found my sweet inspiration in the fruit aisles a few minutes later…

 

Pomegranate

 

Pomegranates.  One of the fruits that evoke (in me, anyway!) visions of Arabian nights; of biblical stories; or Nazarene princesses languishing in the Alhambra.  And that’s probably not far off, as it’s an ancient tree that is mentioned in the Old Testament and has in fact given its name to the beautiful city of Granada (all the manhole covers have stylised pomegranate fruits embossed on them!).  Although it’s not really grown in England, it does grow in nearby Spain and is in season in the middle of the European winter.  Perfect!  The fruits are probably about the size of an orange and (to me) look a bit like red guavas.  They have a range of uses – it seems the flowers, seeds, fruits and bark can all be used for something, but it is usually the red pulp surrounding the seeds that is eaten (or made into currently vogueish pomegranate juice).  I had never actually dealt with a whole fruit before but I had heard that getting to the seeds is quite a production – and they are not lying.  In terms of wasted “packaging”, I would say the pomegranate is the fruit equivalent of the broad bean:  you discard a lot more than you eat!  First comes the decision of where to slice into the whole fruit (I elected to lop the top off till I had penetrated the rind and pith down to the seeds).  From then on, you have to go at it with your fingers, breaking open the polystyrene-like bitter white pith and carefully extracting the seeds, which come wrapped in an absolutely lovely ruby-red translucent pulp.  If you feel so inclined you can remove each teeny seed from its pulp but I would say it’s like pipping grapes – really not worth the effort.  The taste is sweet but with an delightful astringency and the juice is as blood red as can be.  Just gorgeous.

The next question was what to add to these little ruby beauties to make my salad.  I wanted something crispy, something distinctly savoury and maybe something sweeter.  So in the end, I came up with the pomegranate, pear, fennel and rocket salad you see above.  The flavours and textures worked terrifically well together and oh man, it was pretty!  Plus I believe that English pears are also deemed to be seasonal at the moment, so I got in a second seasonal bonus point 😉 And drizzled with a little homemade raspberry vinaigrette dressing, it made a great partner for the rich paté.  Definitely a keeper! 

 

Pomegranate, pear, fennel and rocket salad
 
Print
Prep time
15 mins
Total time
15 mins
 
A salad that's quick to assemble but will impress guests with its rich flavour, texture and colour.
Author: Jeanne Horak-Druiff
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • FOR THE SALAD:
  • 1 bag washed wild rocket
  • 1 large (or 2 small) ripe pears
  • 1 large bulb of fennel
  • seeds from half a large pomegranate
  • FOR THE DRESSING:
  • ¼ cup of grapeseed oil (or other fairly neutral oil)
  • 3 Tbsp raspberry vinegar
  • 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
  • 1 tsp honey
  • salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Remove the arils from half of the pomegranate; trim the fennel bulb and slice into thin slices. Toss the fennel and pomegranate arils together wild rocket.
  2. Just before serving (so that it doesn't go brown), peel quarter and thinly slice the pear and add that to the salad. If you plate the salad, scatter a few pomegranate arils over each plate before serving.
  3. For the dressing, shake all of the ingredients together in a tightly sealed bottle. Taste and adjust any ingredient that you think might be lacking - dressing is such a personal taste. Drizzle sparingly over the salad just before serving.
Notes
The dressing makes a lot - keep it in the fridge in a sealed container and use for up to a week.
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe
3.5.3251

More deliciousness for you!

  • Cranberry pistachio Bircher muesli – a Pret-a-Manger fakeawayCranberry pistachio Bircher muesli – a Pret-a-Manger fakeaway
  • Spicy harissa coleslaw with pomegranateSpicy harissa coleslaw with pomegranate
  • Pan-fried salmon on kale, sweet potato and pomegranatePan-fried salmon on kale, sweet potato and pomegranate
  • Halloumi, roasted grape & pecan saladHalloumi, roasted grape & pecan salad

Never miss a Cooksister post

If you enjoyed this post, enter your e-mail address here to receive a FREE e-mail update when a new post appears on Cooksister

I love comments almost as much as I love cheese - so if you can't leave me any cheese, please leave me a comment instead!

« Le Pont de la Tour revisited
Hostess Twinkies… and more »

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Rate this recipe:  

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. ejm says

    February 6, 2007 at 5:15 am

    I’m absolutely reeling that chicken livers have been unavailable to you. You live in London, don’t you? A rather large centre – to put it mildly. How very back-woods of the local supermarkets. No wait. Back-woods WOULD sell chicken livers…. Never mind. At least they have seen the light now. (I can’t remember ever NOT seeing chicken livers at any meat counter here – unless the shop has run out for the day.)
    But I really came in here to say that your salad looks fabulous. I love pomegranate but rarely buy it – it’s always expensive here and I can never tell whether it will be good or not. (Is there a secret to knowing which pomegranate to choose?)
    And finally, what do you do about the little inedible hard part inside each pomegranate seed?
    -Elizabeth

    Reply
  2. Paul says

    February 6, 2007 at 8:29 am

    I love seasonal cooking and even though all these ingredients are available now in Australia, I’ll wait till winter to try this salad.

    Reply
  3. Julia says

    February 6, 2007 at 10:43 am

    Regarding chicken livers, I go to Green Valley supermarket just off Edgeware Road occasionally to stock up on meat. They have all sorts of animal parts, livers, kidneys, hoofs, testicles, tongues, chicken, veal, lamb, rabbit, etc.
    I would highly recommend it for variety and freshness.

    Reply
  4. Lydia says

    February 6, 2007 at 12:13 pm

    What a wonderful and bright combination of flavors for the middle of winter! As for being inspired by chicken livers, well, that’s probably never going to happen to me, but it’s fun when the markets finally catch up and carry something you love. I live in a rural part of New England, with one small market in our town, and every now and then I’ll discover something wonderful and unexpected there — like pomegranates!

    Reply
  5. Christina says

    February 6, 2007 at 1:20 pm

    The salad sounds (& looks) lovely!
    I adore pomegranates – I’d never actually seen a fresh one until I came to England 9 years ago, and was quickly seduced by their taste and prettiness. It’s almost like eating little jewels.
    And very wierd about the chicken livers – my local Tescos sells them! I make myself pâté every now and then as a treat. I’ll definitely have to remember this salad for accompaniment next time.

    Reply
  6. Brilynn says

    February 6, 2007 at 4:33 pm

    Pomegranates are so pretty. Adding them to anything instantly dresses up a dish.

    Reply
  7. Jeanne says

    February 7, 2007 at 11:33 am

    Hi Elizabeth
    I have to say, it still amazes me too… I’m not sayign that you can’t get chicken liver sin London – of course you can, and I have seen them in supermarkets in other suburbs. But we have three large supermarkets from three large national chains within 10 minutes of our house, and up to now NOT ONE of them regularly stocks chicken livers! It is astounding. Seeing how much chicken they stock, I have to wonder where the hell all those livers are going?!? I’m afraid I have absolutely no idea as to how to choose a good pomegranate, I’m afraid – luck of the draw for me! And as for the little hard seed in each red pulp cell – it’s like grape pips. I take my chances and eat them and hope a pomegranate tree doesn’t grow in my tummy! :o)
    Hi Paul
    I admire your will-power! 😉
    Hi Julia
    Mmmmm, tongue! I grew up eating tongue and absolutely loved it with a nice mustard sauce… But Nick won’t touch it with a barge pole! That’s something else you seldom see in “mainstream” shops, despite the Fergus Henderson effect. Thanks for the tip on Green Valley.
    Hi Lydia
    Thanks 🙂 It was a rather gorgeous salad for a chilly season – cheers you up on sight! Good luck with finding little culinary surprises in your area. My favourite find when I was in Connecticut in October was Macoun apples. Yum yum yum!
    Hi Christina
    My thought exactly – pomegranate seeds are like little jewels! Maybe I like them because they remind me of garnets 😉 I would love to know how the bg supermarkets decide where to stock somethign and where not to. I used to get them from the Sainsbury’s in Wood Green when my friend lived up there – clearly there was perceived to be a market for them there, but not in E16. Go figure.
    Hi Brilynn
    You are so right! They are my garnish of choice at the moment. Wait till you see the pics of the main course where I used them as a garnish too… 😉

    Reply
  8. ejm says

    February 8, 2007 at 3:14 pm

    Well, here’s irony for you. Because of you, we braved the snow and the cold and walked a short distance to the nearest supermarket to get chicken livers for dinner. It’s a huge supermarket with an independent butcher’s counter. THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY CHICKEN LIVERS!!! We couldn’t believe it. Apparently, chicken livers would arrive the next day.
    There WERE packaged chicken livers in the refrigerated meat section but they were ridiculously expensive – not to mention that it wasn’t really clear when they had been packaged. (We normally bicycle to a market to buy chicken livers from a poultry shop that supplies many of the restaurants. The quality is considerably higher and the prices are markedly lower.)
    As a result, we took a sudden change in direction and purchased some decent looking porkchops. But remind us to get chicken livers next week!
    -Elizabeth

    Reply
  9. ilingc says

    February 9, 2007 at 6:54 am

    My local supermarket doesn’t stock chicken livers too! We have to get them at the chicken shop.
    That said, I manage to score a pomegranate from the supermarket the other day and I have been looking for a recipe to use it with! Your salad sounds like just the thing to use it on. I just hope my pomegranate is still edible! 😉

    Reply
  10. keiko says

    February 12, 2007 at 6:12 pm

    Hi Jeanne – this is such a beautiful salad, I must try it soon 🙂 Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  11. Foodfreak says

    February 23, 2007 at 11:22 am

    I love your salad, it is so colorful, and looks delicious!
    re chicken livers, chicken livers seemed to be a cheap food over here and available almost everywhere; nowadays they are not as easy to find, I need to go to a poultry stall on a farmers market – my local supermarket only offers turkey livers, and the lady behind the counter had the nerve to say that they taste better than chicken livers anway, when I asked for chicken livers explicitly. It is available frozen but I don’t buy frozen liver. At least the Turkish grocer and butcher seems to have chicken livers often now, they don’t buy chicken parts but do cut them in the shop.
    Hmmm chicken livers, mashed potatoes and fried onion… paté… chicken livers in port wine sauce (tapa style)… I’m hungry 🙂

    Reply
  12. Deena Kakaya says

    January 27, 2014 at 9:03 am

    Utterly stunning and what a wonderful mix of flavours. I’m going to have to try this one! X

    Reply
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Never miss a Cooksister post!

Get my latest recipes delivered by e-mail!

Search over 500 recipes

Recently on Cooksister

  • Perfect broccoli and Stilton soup [keto, low carb, GF]
  • Masalchi by Atul Kochhar – Indian street food in Wembley
  • Barbecued salmon with blood oranges and capers
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta, pomegranate and pine nuts [GF, V]
  • Love Yourself healthy meal delivery [Review]
  • Antillean
  • Festive roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
  • Rustic blood orange and pistachio galettes

Archives by month

Archives by category

Popular posts

Peppermint Crisp fridge tart - a South African treat
Oxtail and red wine potjie
Nigella's Bakewell slices & the Big Bakewell Taste-off
Gem squash 101: how to find them, how to grow them, how to eat them!
Cranberry pistachio Bircher muesli - a Pret-a-Manger fakeaway
Beef, broccoli and udon noodle stir fry from "The Japanese Larder" by Luiz Hara

Featured on

Also available on

The wonderful Museum of the Moon installation - a The wonderful Museum of the Moon installation - a 7 metre diameter scale model of the moon suspended in the Painted Hall at the  @oldroyalnavalcollege in Greenwich this week, by @lukejerramartist. A surreal and fabulous sight!
Do you enjoy free art installations? Then you need Do you enjoy free art installations? Then you need to get down to @canarywharflondon between now and Saturday 28 Jan to catch the free Winter Lights 2023 event, back for the seventh year.

My favourites include @lukejerramartist ‘s Floating Earth; Tom Lambert’s Out of the Dark; Fluorescent Firs; Toroid by This is Loop; and the surreal and mesmerising Anima by MEATS - a tunnel filled with hundreds of thin optical fibre lights that change colour and move in the breeze 😍 

Have you been to Winter Lights? What was your favourite?
“When we look down at the Earth from space, we s “When we look down at the Earth from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet. It looks like a living, breathing organism. But it also, at the same time, looks extremely fragile.” - International Space Station astronaut Ron Garamond

To experience the “overview effect” (a phenomenon experienced by astronauts viewing the earth from space), head down to Canary Wharf in the London docklands this week where you can see @lukejerramartist ‘s beautiful Floating Earth installation as part of the Winter Lights event. 

This giant 10m diameter installation is created using high resolution NASA images to create a floating scale model of the Earth, lit from within so that it glows from its current home on the Middle Dock, surrounded by the headquarters of international banking and finance corporations.

The artist hopes that viewed in this context, the installation will make visitors and the bankers working in surrounding buildings question how their money in savings and pensions is invested, and whether investments can be greener.

Aside from being a thought provoking piece, it is also mesmerising and surreally beautiful, so make sure you visit the free Winter Lights event before ends on Saturday 28 Jan.
Happy lunar new year! [Invited] To celebrate the Happy lunar new year! 

[Invited] To celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit, why not head over to @mamachensdumplings currently doing a residence at the @thegantrylondon in #stratford where you can feast on prawn & chive dumplings; pork, Chinese cabbage and shiitake mushroom dumplings; pork & prawn wontons with Mama Chen’s chilli oil; vegetable dumplings; smacked cucumber salad; and spicy noodles coated in garlic and Szechuan pepper oil.

And afterwards, make sure you head up to the @unionsocialoc bar for a cocktail - I loved the Moreish Fashion with bourbon, PX sherry, chestnuts and mandarin orange bitters!
Got leftover Stilton (or any blue cheese) from Chr Got leftover Stilton (or any blue cheese) from Christmas? Turn it into this super simple and super indulgent broccoli and Stilton soup! So easy to make and soooo delicious to eat - and it is low carb and GF. What more could you want?! Click the link in my bio for the full recipe. What’s your favourite soup?
CELEBRATE. So the fireworks are over, the champag CELEBRATE.

So the fireworks are over, the champagne is finished and the leftovers are all eaten. We are one week into 2023 and I have had some time to think about what my intent is for the year. 

In 2022 my brother had a life saving kidney transplant. Since the operation, he has had a Peanuts cartoon as his WhatsApp profile pic, where Charlie Brown and Snoopy are sitting on a pier talking. Charlie says “Some day, we all die Snoopy.” And Snoopy replies: “Yes - but every other day, we will live.”

Waking up in the morning is a gift, every day, and it is so easy to forget this. The last few years have been difficult for so many people and the coming year promises its own challenges. But every day that we don’t die is a day to live, to celebrate life in some small way.

So my intention in 2023 is to celebrate. Celebrate our achievements however small. Celebrate our friends and family. Celebrate small things. Celebrate life.

Did you make any resolutions or goals for 2023? I would love to hear them in the comments! Wishing you all the very best for 2023 🥂
Happy new year, everyone! Here are some scenes fro Happy new year, everyone! Here are some scenes from last night with friends in Deptford. My deconstructed avocado ritz; @twinkleparkstephen ‘s bobitie; Giles’ Ottolenghi tomato salad; and Jean’s clementine trifle - and the London night sky ablaze with fireworks!  How did you spend your evening? 🥂🎇🎆
Merry Christmas to all those celebrating - I hope Merry Christmas to all those celebrating - I hope your day was merry and bright, filled with family, friends and love 🎄🥂. Mine was spent alone at home - my choice and the result of a combination of Covid (not mine!) and rail strikes 🤦‍♀️ but very relaxing and indulgent!
Looking for a stylish and easy Christmas starter y Looking for a stylish and easy Christmas starter you can make ahead? Look no further than my individual smoked salmon terrine! Hot smoked salmon, cream cheese and chives wrapped in cold smoked salmon in a ramekin. Still one of the most popular Christmas recipes in my blog, it looks cheffy but is soooo simple to make - and will save you time and effort on the day! Get the recipe by clicking on the link in my bio.

How is your Christmas meal prep going? Are you entertaining at home or going to friends or family? 🎄🥂🎄🥂🎄
Load More... Follow me on Instagram

Follow Jeanne Horak-Druiff's board Recipes by Cooksister on Pinterest.

Cooksister

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Bowls of broccoli and Stilton soup
Salmon with blood oranges dill and capers
Brussels sprouts with feta and pomegranate
Roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
Blood orange & pistachio galettes
Cauliflower topped steak with melted cheese
Plate of potted smoked salmon with slaw and a glass of champagne
bowls of pistachio pomegranate bircher muesli

SITEMAP

Home

Contact

About me

Recipe Index

Restaurant Index

Copyright & Disclaimer

Cookies & privacy policy




blog counter

© 2004 - 2023 · Jeanne Horak unless otherwise stated - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may not reproduce any text, excerpts or images without my prior permission. Site by RTW Labs

Copyright © 2023 · Cooksister on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Cooksister cookie consent
We use cookies to ensure you receive the best experience on our site. If you continue to use this site, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions. Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT