Cabbage, Apples, and Pomegranate with Blue Cheese Honey Vinaigrette

Fall on a plate is delicious. It’s bright and light and funky and deep. It’s fall’s way of saying, “Nuhuhn summer, no need to battle me, I got the goods”.

This recipe is slightly modified from Vivian Howard’s Deep Run Roots. Besides the colors and textures of this salad, I love the unexpected twist by using a blue cheese vinaigrette. It’s bright, deep, complex, and sweet and compliments the produce perfectly. It’s most beautiful and tasty if you use all of the component.

Blue Cheese Honey Vinaigrette Ingredients
5 ounces blue cheese
6 Tbl lemon juice (have 5 lemons on hand)
6 Tbl red wine vinegar
4 tsp honey
½ tsp black pepper
½ c sunflower oil

Salad Ingredients
1 green head of cabbage
1 bunch of radishes
1 pomegranate
1 apple (sweet not tart)

Ingredient amounts per 1 meal serving (1/2 it for a side salad)
3 cups of sliced cabbage
5 Tbl dressing
3 Tbl sliced radishes
½ c chopped apple
3 Tbl pomegranate


Directions
Make the dressing. Put 5 ounces blue cheese in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Use a fork to break the cheese into small crumbles. The size is up to you, but I caution going too small b/c it can make your dressing grainy. Take a lemon and roll it back and forth while applying downward pressure under the heel of your hand. You will feel the rind give and will feel squishy. Cut it around the equator and squeeze the lemon to get 6 Tbl of juice. You can break the flesh with a fork to coax the juice out

Add 6 Tbl of red wine vinegar, 4 tsp honey, and ½ tsp of black pepper. Close the lid tightly and shake. You’ll see layers of the dressing come to together. Open the lid and add ½ c of sunflower oil. Close the lid and shake until it’s a homogeneous dressing. It will not be the prettiest of colors, but fear not you won’t be able to tell once it’s on the salad.

Take the cabbage and peel off the outer leaf if it’s loose. Slice the cabbage down the pole. You have two options here: 1) Put cut side down with core end facing your body. Hold the cabbage with your non-dominate hand and make very thin slices cutting from the exterior to the core. 2) Take a knife and cut a triangle around the core to remove it. Proceed with option 1.  If you did option 1, cut off the end pieces with the core. Take the leafy part and turn the strips of cabbage 90 degrees so they are parallel to the edge of the counter. Slice in 1/2 “ strips. The core is a bit tougher but every bit as tasty. You can either small dice it and add it to a salad or small dice it and add it when you sweat your onions for another dish.

Pour the dressing over your cabbage to generously coat and mix with your hands to even coat. Taste. Add more dressing as needed.

Wash your radishes well. Slice off the leaf end (you can oil the leaves and roast them to create a crunchy treat!) and slice off the tip of the tale. Thinly slice the radishes around the equator. I’m talking so thin they’re nearly transparent.

Clean the pomegranate. Housekeeping tip: Clean the pomegranate in a bowl in a clean sink. It helps prevent splatters from going everywhere. Slice the fruit in half around the equator. Put the fruit flesh side down on the tips of your fingers and place your thumbs on top. Apply pressure on your thumbs while rotating your wrist outward. You want to crack the skin just a little. Rotate the fruit 90 degrees and repeat. Rest the flesh cut side down your non-dominant hand. With your dominant hand, use a wooden spoon and whack the pomegranates. Seeds should start falling out. Keep whacking until most of the seeds are out. Pick the remaining seeds out with your fingers.

Right before serving cut the apple. I score the apple with horizontal line that barely reach the core. I score vertical lines to create wedges. Use a paring knife to core the apple (cut down from the stem), and small triangles will be released. This method will not yield the most uniform of pieces, but it’s quick. I also like the varied shapes and sizes for this status since it’s a bit rustic.

To serve place 3 cups of lettuce (already dressed with 5 Tbl of dressing) on a large plate. Scatter 3 Tbl of slice radishes on top, ½ cup of apples and 3 Tbl pomegranates.

Notes
You don’t have to use sunflower oil, that just happens to be the neutral oil I usually have on hand. Grapeseed or avocado oil also works well. If you use olive oil, please make sure it’s a light one because a rich olive oil will make the dressing taste murky.

If you don’t have a very sharp knife, there’s a good chance you’ll end up with a bloody mess of fingers if you try to cut your radishes so thin. You can use a mandolin (please oh please oh please always use the guard) or you can cut the radishes in match sticks.

If you don’t have pomegranates, gooseberries makes a great substitute although not as colorful. If you don’t have either, you can skip it.

Not a fan of blue cheese (you hurt my heart, but I won’t hold it against you), you can use feta instead.