Chestnut Salad with Pomegranate Dressing
This Chestnut Salad with Pomegranate Dressing is a winter salad that combines fresh ruby pomegranate arils with savory roasted chestnuts. It’s a fantastic combination for the holidays.
Make your own fresh pomegranate dressing and drizzle it on this festive green salad scattered with citrus slices, chestnuts, pomegranate arils, parsnips, and gorgonzola. Chestnut Salad with Pomegranate Dressing makes a fantastic salad for the holidays.
This post first appeared on December 14, 2013 and on Wayfair.com. I hope you enjoy this favorite from my kitchen!
We used to link arms, my best friends and I, and we would occupy the width of the sidewalk with not a care in the world, the frigid air hitting our cheeks and entering our lungs as we would sing, “city sidewalks…busy sidewalks…dressed in holiday style!”
The silver bells of the carriage horses trotting around Central Park would ring, their precious cargo of tourists and lovers in tow. There would be shopping and perhaps a visit to the museum, or a skate in the park. We would battle through the crowds, under the sparkling lights, and Christmas was, in a word, magical.
It’s been years since I’ve had a New York Christmas, but of course, it’s those memories that I still hold dear. A California Christmas is a different adventure altogether, but I think it is safe to say that the holiday traditions you grow up with are the ones that will always be the truest. At least in our minds.
The chestnuts may be what I miss the most. The aroma of them on every street corner, mingling with the steam from the cars on the street, and the sounds of the city. When I do see them at the market, I buy them, and I try to convince my children that they’re the most delicious part of the holidays.
I just don’t think they will believe me until they buy a paper sack of their own, the warmth of the chestnuts slowly penetrating their gloved hands, heating their fingertips.
I really do need to take them back for Christmas one day.
Until then, the chestnuts I buy are all mine. I introduced them to a fruit I have grown to love in my new home: pomegranates. California meets New York in this wintery Chestnut Salad with Pomegranate Dressing. My Christmases on a plate.
Roasting your own chestnuts? Use my oven-roasted chestnuts recipe.
More Salad Recipes
Kale Persimmon Salad
Chickpea Salad Sandwich with Feta
Citrus and Avocado Salad with Quick-Pickled Fennel
Pan Seared Scallops with Warm Asparagus, Kale and Tangerine Salad
Roasted Acorn Squash and Kale Salad
Chestnut Salad with Pomegranate Dressing
Ingredients
For the pomegranate dressing:
- 1/2 cup pomegranates arils (used for the juice, OR use 3 tablespoons of store bought juice as noted in ingredients list)
- 3 tablespoons pomegranate juice (see note above)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
For the salad:
- Assorted salad greens (baby greens, baby kale, and baby arugula)
- 2 clementines or tangerines or 1 naval orange, peeled and sliced in thin round slices
- 1 cup roasted chestnut nut meats
- 1 cup pomegranate arils
- 1 parsnip peeled and slivered with a peeler
- 1/4 cup gorgonzola crumbled
Instructions
- Place the pomegranate arils in a blender and blend on high speed. Pour the seeds through a fine sieve over a cup, collecting the juice by pressing the seeds with the back of a spoon. Alternatively, you can use store bought pomegranate juice as noted in the recipe.
- Rinse the blender of any remaining arils. Pour the pomegranate juice back into the blender bowl, along with the sugar, sherry vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt, and olive oil. Blend on high speed until the dressing becomes creamy, and the olive oil has emulsified the dressing.
- Assemble the salad by placing the salad greens on four salad plates. Scatter with the citrus slices, chestnuts, arils, parsnips, and gorgonzola. Drizzle each salad with the dressing. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Comments
COOKBOOK
We had this for Christmas dinner. It was fabulous! Very fresh and bright. It is a must try!
Bonny, I’m so pleased! Thank you for making this salad (and me!) part of your Christmas dinner, that means so much :)
A wonderful memory… I think that’s what holidays are all about. Traditions. Sharing them with others. Making new ones. It’s all so wonderful.
Hope you and your family had a very merry Christmas.
A beautiful winter salad. I haven’t had chestnuts before, and now I’m aching to try. And I must agree…those early traditions are the ones that stick. Thank you for sharing!
I have never had fresh chestnuts off a street vendor but you sure are making it sound like a tradition I need to experience!