Here’s a great idea for a festive Winter salad!  With Pomegranate season here, its a moment to embrace and enjoy them in everything possible. The beautiful greens, sweetness of the pear, the crunch of the pomegranate, the richness of cheese and the spice of the pecans make a wonderful combination. The sweet and spicy sugared pecans are even Paleo friendly, which I love! We have done it here with NY strip but this would also be great with my Everyday Roasted Chicken Breasts, pork tenderloin or any other beef cut of your choice.

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Holiday Salad

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  • Author: nocrumbsleft
  • Prep Time: 15 min
  • Cook Time: 25 min
  • Total Time: 40 min
  • Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Salad:

  • NY Strip Steak or your favorite cut (How to below or click here for grilling how to)
  • Seeds from 1 large pomegranate
  • Greens
  • 2 Tablespoons Sugared Pecans (recipe below)
  • 2 Pears
  • Mild blue cheese
  • Raspberry Walnut Oil Vinaigrette (see recipe below)

For the Raspberry Walnut Oil Vinaigrette:

  • 1 teaspoon honey mustard
  • 4 Tablespoons raspberry vinegar
  • 6 Tablespoons Walnut oil (you can use olive oil if you can’t find Walnut oil)
  • 6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon tarragon or chives
  • Salt and pepper to taste

For Sugared Pecans (recipe adapted from The Minimalist Baker):

    • 2 cups raw pecans
    • 1 1/2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
    • 2 Tablespoons coconut sugar
    • 2 Tablespoons real maple syrup
    • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
    • 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

For the Vinaigrette:

Place oils into bowl and slowly add vinegar, whisking well to make sure it emulsifies.  Add the remaining ingredients and whisk together, seasoning to taste.

For Sugared Pecans:

Place your pecans on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.  Drizzle the coconut oil and maple syrup over the pecans.  Then sprinkle with the coconut sugar, cayenne, cardamom and salt.

Toss for a minute or two making sure that all of the pecans are well coated evenly.  Spread them out into a single layer.  Place in a 350 oven and bake for about 12-15 minutes (toss/stir with a spoon or spatula halfway through)

For the salad:

Remove the seeds from the pomegranate and cut the pear into halves and slice thinly.

Assemble: Create a bed of greens on a large platter.  Gently lay the sliced steak on the greens.  Add the sliced pears, pomegranate seeds, blue cheese (if you are adding it) and sugared pecans.  Serve with vinaigrette on the side.

How to cook steak: Preheat oven to 500°. Salt and pepper both sides of the steak. In an oven safe skillet or cast iron pan, on high, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When oil is hot, gently place the steak in the pan.  Sear on each side for 4 minutes and 1 minute for each edge. Move pan to the preheated oven and cook for about 6 more minutes (for medium rare).  Let rest for 15 minutes before slicing.