Arugula, Pear and Goat Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Fall

by: brigidc

November12,2009

4.7

15 Ratings

  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Serves 6

Jump to Recipe

Author Notes

Sweet, salty, tart, crunchy and spicy, this salad has perfect flavor and texture balance. The inspiration was pomegranate molasses, which I learned about when I worked on a Persian food class. I like how the molasses takes the acidic edge off the vinaigrette but it is still tangy and delicious.
brigidc

Test Kitchen Notes

Although this salad has lots of different ingredients, it's somehow not overly busy or complicated. We love how the fragrance and sweetness of the pomegranate molasses mollify the tartness of the sherry vinegar in the dressing, and how the shallots lightly pickle in the vinaigrette as you make the rest of the salad. Mellow pears, salty goat cheese, crunchy pomegranate seeds and toasted pistachios ensure that every bite contains a great mix of flavors and textures. Brigidc has carefully mapped out every step, and the result is a balanced autumn salad that can stand alone or work as part of a meal. - A&M —The Editors

  • Test Kitchen-Approved
  • Your Best Autumn Salad Contest Winner

What You'll Need

Ingredients
  • Vinaigrette
  • 1 large shallot, halved and thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoonpomegranate molasses
  • 2 tablespoonssherry or apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoonkosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoonblack pepepr
  • 1/3 cupextra virgin olive oil
  • For the salad
  • 4 cupsarugula, lightly packed
  • 4 cupsromaine, torn into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 ripe pears, cored and cut into 1/2" cubes
  • 1/3 cuppomegranate seeds
  • 3 ouncesfresh goat cheese or feta, crumbled
  • 1/4 cuppistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped
Directions
  1. In a small bowl combine the shallot, pomegranate molasses, vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk until the salt is dissolved.
  2. Whisk in the olive oil and let vinaigrette stand at room temperature until salad is assembled.
  3. Combine the arugula, romaine, pears and half of the pomegranate seeds in a large bowl.
  4. Crumble half of the goat cheese over the ingredients in the bowl (this works best if the cheese is very cold).
  5. Whisk the vinaigrette until uniform and add all but 2 tablespoons of it to the bowl.
  6. Gently toss the salad with your hands or salad tongs, coating the ingredients well with the vinaigrette. If the salad seems dry, add the vinaigrette in small increments until it is dressed to your liking.
  7. Crumble the remaining cheese over the salad and sprinkle the remaining pomegranate seeds and the pistachios over the top. Serve immediately.

Tags:

  • Salad Dressing
  • Salad
  • American
  • Pear
  • Molasses
  • Pomegranate
  • Vegetable
  • Vinegar
  • Arugula
  • Goat Cheese
  • Shallot
  • Fruit
Contest Entries
  • Your Best Autumn Salad

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Relish

  • Leslie Vasquez

  • lora789

  • Lindsay Christians

  • linda

Popular on Food52

70 Reviews

This was beautiful and delicious. I'd forgotten to purchase the pomegranate molasses, but substituted equal amounts balsamic vinegar and it was still gobbled up at Christmas.

brushjl March 16, 2022

Great recipe. I skipped the dressing, I have plenty on hand. I added roasted baby artichoke and we had a wonderful salad.

N V. December 21, 2021

This is a wonderful fresh salad that pairs well with rich meats or stews. It is a repeat winner in our house.

Relish September 29, 2019

Wonderful salad. Next time I’ll decrease the olive oil a bit. I didn’t have shallots so added some thinly sliced red onion. Really good and pretty.

karenheff March 12, 2024

oooh! I just made that salad the other day, delicious! I'l try this dressing next time. Thanks!

Kerry G. March 14, 2018

I love this dressing. I used it to dress the date, feta, and red cabbage salad on the smitten kitchen website (and added arugula to that salad because I love arugula!)

karenheff March 12, 2024

oooh! I just made that salad the other day, delicious! I'l try this dressing next time. Thanks!

Joeyman9 December 17, 2015

We had a "test drive" last evening evening, in prep for Christmas dinner. Most ,excellent... The dressing is a keeper, the salad ingredients work really well together and the dressing makes this salad sing. Thank you for sharing a winner!

Leslie V. December 14, 2015

Had this last night and it was amazing! Absolutely will make it for a holiday dinner!

lora789 March 23, 2015

Great spinach salad http://lightfeeding.com/recipe/good-tasty-salad-everything-need/

Lindsay C. February 23, 2015

Nice combination of sweet, crunchy and tart, with a little zip from the arugula. Made a big double-batch of this salad yesterday for a wine tasting and an Oscar party, and it was a hit at both (I kept most of the elements separate until I dressed it and served it).

I substituted tart cherry juice, reduced on the stove with a pinch of sugar and lemon, for the pomegranate molasses. It takes an age -- I think mine took two hours -- but it was easy and tasted great (and since I already had it, it saved me an extra $10 purchase).

Winston December 22, 2014

This was a HUGE hit last night at our annual Cookie Swap….The colors for Christmas were perfect and the flavor !!! Just perfect…I are my own pomegranate molasses from a reductions of juice with sugar and lemon…I will make again and again !!

koc October 14, 2014

Delicious! Also comes together quickly if you're using store-bought or pre-made molasses. Like others I made the pomegranate molasses from scratch (a reduction of pomegranate juice, sugar and fresh lemon juice-googled a recipe for it). Used crumbled aged cheddar in place of feta or goat cheese. I'll be making this often, thanks!

lpaulk January 5, 2022

Accidentally clicked on "flag inapprpriate" and can't unblock, so sorry!

lpaulk January 5, 2022

Meant "unclick"!

skenny89 August 25, 2014

I made this salad for Christmas and even though I couldn't find Pomegranate Molasses and was up last minute making it at 3am the night before ( it's actually pretty simple just a juice and sugar reduction just takes time like any reduction) The flavor was totally worth. I killed myself cooking but all anybody could talk about the next day was this salad. even if you never use salad recipes, made this. you'll be dying to make it again.

chrisi May 9, 2014

This looks delicious, but where do you get pomegranate molasses?

allison April 6, 2015

Whole Foods Market

AJ January 30, 2014

Mucho Gracias as to where/how to produce Pom Molasses...

linda January 30, 2014

This is AWESOME! Made it for the first time for Christmas dinner and it was a huge success and so pretty with all the different colors. It's not a staple in my house. I made the dressing from scratch (googled a recipe for homemade molasses) but now I've found a decent pomegranate pre-made vinegrette at the grocery that I like as well so we eat it even more often!

linda January 30, 2014

I should say it is NOW a staple (didn't mean to say not a staple)

Kathy R. January 24, 2014

A Middle Eastern market is the best place to find pomegranate molasses. Failing that, just boil down pom juice until it is thickened.

AJ January 24, 2014

Luv your Salad site.....but where do you get pom molasses????

jodee M. September 2, 2013

where would one buy pomegrante molasses? whole foods and a local grocer didn't have it. Can i make it by mixing pomegrante juice and molasses?

Texas S. September 2, 2013

spicehouse.com carries it. They even have a few recipes online using it. I'm not a shill for them, but I am a longtime loyal customer.
http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/pomegranate-molasses

Texas S. August 2, 2013

I had a wonderful salad the other night at Nieto's restaurant in the suburbs of Chicago, made with citrus, arugula, hazelnuts and a raspberry vinaigrette, which I don't like. Another salad had a pomegranate molasses vinaigrette I thought would work and they kindly substituted it for me. Tonight I made a salad of red-tinged Boston lettuce and thin slices of black plums, toasted hazelnuts and this version of pomegranate molasses vinaigrette. Oh, so yumm. It's going into regular rotation here - thank you so much for sharing it. And come the fall, we will do the pear salad as written.

ChelleT March 13, 2013

I know that this is a contest winner and that pretty much every comment raves about it, but my boyfriend and I did not like it at all. We tried the pom molasses before making the dressing and were already not excited about the taste, but we pressed on because of the rave reviews. If you don't like pomegranate molasses you will not like this recipe. It tasted too syrupy sweet, almost like cough syrup. Maybe it was just a bad molasses that we used, because the whole thing sounds great. Sorry to be the one negative review in the bunch.

Arugula, Pear and Goat Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What is a salad that has the main ingredients mixed and held together by a vinaigrette or mayonnaise based dressing called? ›

Bound Salad

Bound salads are held together with a binding agent like mayonnaise or a thick dressing. They look a bit different than traditional composed or tossed salads, as vegetables aren't a requirement.

How to make nusret goat cheese salad? ›

NUSRET STYLE SALAD — Add arugula, pomegranate and goat cheese along with any random mix of chopped veggies and the salad dressing and you'll have yourself a banginnn salad!! I mix everything together and store it in a bottle. Drizzle some on top of salad with extra molassles and enjoy!

What ingredient makes up the biggest percent of most salad dressings? ›

Expert-Verified Answer. The primary ingredient in salad dressing among the given ones is oil. Salad dressing typically consists of a combination of ingredients, but the primary ingredient that forms the base of most salad dressings is oil.

What are the four parts of a salad do all salads have all four parts? ›

Base: usually a layer of salad greens that line the plate or bowl in which the salad will be served. Body: consists of the main ingredients. Garnish: enhances the appearance while also complementing the overall taste; must be edible. Salad dressings: are liquids or semi-liquids used to flavor salads.

Why doesn't goat cheese melt? ›

Cheeses like fresh goat cheese and ricotta cheese will never melt because they were curdled with acid.

What is the difference between feta and goat cheese in salad? ›

On salads: Mediterranean, Greek, and Italian cuisines all use feta and goat cheese, especially on salads. Goat cheese pairs well with dried fruits, nuts, seeds, and a light olive oil vinaigrette. Meanwhile, feta cheese is a common ingredient in a classic Greek salad.

Why is goat cheese so filling? ›

It may be more filling than other cheeses

In particular, goat's milk contains high amounts of the medium-chain fatty acids capric acid and caprylic acid. These fatty acids are digested rapidly, providing an immediate source of energy which leads to increased feelings of satiety.

What is a salad made of mixtures of ingredients that are held together? ›

Bound salads are mixtures of foods held together, or bound, with a dressing, usually a thick dressing such as mayonnaise. The term bound is used most often for traditional mixtures of cooked protein, starch, and vegetable items with mayonnaise, such as chicken salad, tuna salad, egg salad, and potato salad.

What salad means the ingredients are combined with dressing? ›

Bound salad. This type of salad is prepared form cooked primary ingredients such as meat, poultry, fish, egg, potato, pasta, or rice bound together with some type of heavy dressing such as mayonnaise.

When cooked foods are mixed with a vinaigrette, they are commonly called a? ›

The main ingredient of the salad might be greens, a marinated or bound salad, meat, fish, or poultry. proper mayonnaise acts to hold the salad together. When cooked foods are mixed with a vinaigrette, it is commonly called a marinated salad, 16-3.

What term refers to salad ingredients tossed in a mixture of oil and vinegar? ›

vinaigrette. noun. vin·​ai·​grette ˌvin-i-ˈgret. : a sauce made of oil, vinegar, and seasonings and used especially on salads, cold meats, or fish.

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