My husband Rob set off early this morning for the first day of abalone fishing season in Perth. While I don’t generally eat a lot of seafood, we agreed we would have a barbecue this evening and that I would try what is considered one of the great ocean delicacies. Rob had his fishing licence sorted and double checked his allowed quota before he headed off. I’m only allowed fifteen with this licence Tam, he said.
As fate would have it, his ‘allowed quota’ was of no issue, as despite bringing a mate along for reinforcements, they came away with a grand total of zero abalone. Not a single one to be seen.😂😂😂
While I am told the conditions were less than desirable, we have a standing joke at home about Rob’s fishing prowess, and it can most aptly be described in the following cartoon. He says he just needs more chance to practice 😉
Anyway! Enough bagging my wonderful husband!! We decided to go ahead with the barbecue and I ducked down to the butcher to get some meat. While I did my groceries I also picked up a pomegranate, as they had just been packed and were so bright and pink and inviting!
I had no idea what I was going to do with it, as I have never used one before. I even had to youtube how to open it up! But given it was just a quick throw together barbecue this evening I decided to make a salad to go with our meat.
This salad is absolutely gorgeous – soooo simple and quick to make. It is beautifully bright with dark green leaves, bright white feta cheese, purple onion and amazingly pink beads of pomegranate. I made it with Christmas in mind, and think it will be a beautiful addition to any Christmas menu.
INGREDIENTS
100g mixed spinach and rocket leaves
1/2 red onion, sliced finely
80 grams feta cheese
1/2 pomegranate (seeds and juice)
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup walnuts
2 tablespoons balsamic glaze
cracked black pepper to serve
Prep time: 15 minutes
Servings: side salad for four people
HOW TO
Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan forced).
Finely slice your red onion into thin rings. Don’t worry if some are thicker than others, or some are half circle moons because…’rustic’ 😉
Pop the onions into a non-metal bowl and add 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Give a little swish around, cover with glad wrap and set aside.
Pop the walnuts onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and put into the preheated oven for 2-3 minutes until the walnuts are toasted. It happens very quickly so just wait and watch to avoid them burning. Once they are toasted up, chop them roughly and set aside.
Wash and dry your salad leaves and place on a plate. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and toss to combine.
Cut your pomegranate in half, and taking one side only, smack the back of it with a wooden spoon, releasing all the seeds and juice into a large bowl. It’s a bit spattery so make space! Make sure you keep the juice as well as the seeds.
Check your onions, and if they are semi translucent you are ready to keep going. If they are still a very opaque wait a couple more minutes til they are ready. This is how translucent mine were when I assembled my salad.
Take half of your onion, feta cheese and pomegranate and pop on top of the dressed salad leaves. Using your hands toss gently to combine. Don’t worry too much about what it looks like as you have the remaining ingredients to present the salad nicely. Doing it half and half means you have ingredients all through the salad, not just sitting on top of the leaves.
Next take your remaining ingredients and arrange on top of the salad. Finish by crumbling the roasted walnuts on the top, adding some cracked pepper and drizzling any pomegranate juice over the top of the salad.
Super quick and easy! ENJOY!
The Cold Coffee Club 