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Ingredients – Salad
9 cups leafy red and green lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 pomegranate
¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
3 ounces Manchego
Ingredients – Dressing
3 tbls. extra virgin olive oil
3 tbls. red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
For the salad, first remove the seeds from the pomegranate. To do so, cut the pomegranate into quarters. Submerge each quarter in a large bowl of cold water. While the pomegranate is underwater, pull the seeds away from the fleshy part of the fruit. The seeds will sink and the flesh will float, so most should be easy to remove. Once you’ve finished, drain the bowl in a colander, removing any stray bits of flesh that have stuck to the seeds. Set the seeds aside to dry.
Next, make the dressing. It’s very simple: put the olive oil and vinegar in a bowl or cup, add salt and pepper to taste, and vigorously whisk or shake in a closed container until the liquids are combined. But be warned: this dressing is fairly acidic. If you generally prefer less acid, add more oil and less vinegar.
Place the lettuce in a bowl, cover with the dressing and toss to coat the leaves. After this step, the salad is most easily assembled on individual plates. Divide the dressing-coated lettuce between 6 salad plates. Top each with a small handful of pepitas and pomegranate seeds. Using a vegetable peeler, shave about four long, curly strips of cheese on top of each plate of salad.
And enjoy!
Serves 6
