With holiday parties popping up left and right, it’s essential to have a few back pocket recipes to be able to whip up easily at home and take with you. This festive greens salad is a crowd pleaser and it also makes for a beautiful presentation. Your friends will definitely be impressed!

 

The recipe calls for a handful of seasonal ingredients –  including pomegranate, cranberries, Fuyu persimmon, and sweet potatoes –  that are both delicious and super nutritional.

The tannins in pomegranates can treat heart disease and help protect against cancer, cranberries benefit the immune system and have anticancer properties, Fuyu persimmon is an excellent source of Vitamin C, and sweet potatoes are regarded as one of the most nutrient-dense vegetables, high in Vitamins A and C.

If you’re not already convinced that you should bring this salad to your next holiday party, take a look at the recipe below and be amazed at how simple it is to make!

Festive Greens with Sweet Potato and Orange-Miso Dressing

Yield: 4-6

Ingredients

1 sweet potato, cut into ½-inch dice

1 Tbsp olive oil

sea salt & black pepper

½ head kale, stems removed and chopped

½ head green leaf lettuce, chopped

1/2 cup baby kale leaves

1 persimmon, cut into thin wedges

1 pomegranate, seeds removed*

¼ cup pepitas, toasted

¼ cup dried cranberries

Orange-Miso Dressing

2 Tbsp sweet miso

1 tsp minced fresh ginger

1/2 tsp minced fresh garlic

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

splash apple cider vinegar

1 tsp honey

3-4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Toss the sweet potato in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread onto a foil-lined bake sheet and roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, until tender. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

To make the dressing, place all ingredients, except for the olive oil, in a blender. Blend on high, adding in the olive oil, until emulsified. Add more orange juice to thin, if necessary, until the dressing coats the back of a spoon.

Place all greens in a large serving bowl. Add in the cooled sweet potato, some of the persimmon wedges, half of the pepitas and the cranberry. Toss with the dressing then fold in more persimmon and top with remaining pepitas and cranberries.

*Pro Tip: To remove the seeds from a pomegranate, score an X across the stem with the tip of a pairing knife. Using your hands, peel open the pomegranate into four sections. Fill a large bowl with cold water. Place the pomegranate in the water to remove the seeds with your hands. The seeds will sink to the bottom and any loose membrane will float to the top for easy separation.

©DEFINE foods, Erin O’Leary Stewart

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is brought to you by Erin O’Leary Stewart.  As the Co-owner of DEFINE body & mind and Director of DEFINE foods, Erin is an expert on health and wellness. She earned her culinary degree from New York City’s Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts and focuses on using natural, seasonal ingredients aimed towards healing in order to live a balanced and grounded lifestyle.  We are always searching for the perfect recipes for entertaining or just for the family, but it can be hard to find things that are delicious and healthy.  For that reason, we knew Erin would be the perfect partner to help us up our cooking game while staying health conscious along the way.  We hope you love learning from Erin as much as we do!  See her last post here!