Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad

I'm on an Alice Waters kick. It's true. Because if the woman can invent an amazing salad that tastes like the best of summer and fall out of TWO ingredients (plus two extras) for a total of $6 and it's easy to make ahead for the entire week of lunches well, then you've got a winner. I bought her cookbook specifically because of this salad, used it for only that, and then shelved it and forgot about it for over a year until last week, when my fall craving came on strong. So the salad is back with a vengeance. I've eaten it--in all its various incarnations-- every day since I bought the makings nine days ago. Maybe now I can branch out to the other 386 pages of recipes...

Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad

Adapted from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food

3 ripe fuyu persimmons

1/2 pomegranate

a few large handfuls of frisée (curly endive) or spring mix *optional

a small handful of spiced pecans (I used Trader Joe's Sweet and Spicy Pecans)

For the vinaigrette:

1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (don't skimp on the pepper... it adds the best spicy kick to the sweet persimmon and tart pomegranate)

1. Cut the tops off, peel, and cut up the persimmons.

2. Seed the pomegranate. I do this by cutting the pomegranate in half, then scoring each half down the middle of the skin. Submerge the halves in a bowl of water and break apart to avoid the juice from staining everything. The pith will float, the seeds will sink. Skim off the pith and pour the water off the seeds. You can use this same bowl to dress/assemble your salad.

3. Dress salad with vinaigrette and serve.

Variations:

As a fruit salad, cut the persimmon into slices and top with pomegranates and freshly cracked pepper.

As a lunch or side salad, cube the persimmon, mix with pomegranate seeds, and serve with frisée, spiced pecans, and a piece of warm, crusty bread.

To make it in a batch for a week of lunches, I use 4 persimmons and a whole pomegranate, dress the fruit, and store it in an airtight bowl in the fridge. In the morning, spoon some of the fruit over a container of spring mix, top with pecans, and you're good to go.