When I first moved to California, I was so taken in by all the beautiful stone fruit that ripen in summer.  Peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums!   Oh what a bounty of drupes!   I couldn’t stop making jams and tarts and pies, especially when friends and neighbors freely shared their crop.  But that feeling jaded after a couple of summers and I discovered the exotic beauty of fall fruit like figs, persimmons and pomegranates.

 

 

Aren’t pomegranates the sexiest of all fruit?  Our little tree pomegranate tree had a healthy crop this year.  So, being the nice neighbors that we are, we offered some to our next door neighbors.  No, they said.  “We really don’t care for pomegranate”!   What???!!   That completely floored me.  How could someone not like the sweet, tart taste of this juicy, sexy glam fruit that appears in ancient myths and legends?

I finally figured it out!  They either didn’t know how to, or didn’t want to take the effort to peel the pomegranate to extract the seeds.  I must admit I find it a bit cumbersome myself.

Once my uncle cut open a pomegranate and said like a magician, “Now watch”. He then proceeded to whack the pomegranate over a bowl with a flat ladle.  Pretty soon he had gently extracted all the seeds in to the bowl.  I tried that technique myself and ended up with a pink shirt, a pink counter top and pink walls, like a carnage had just occurred at the scene.

So yeah, now I do it manually, one layer at a time.   It is worth it!

 

 

I saved some of the fruit from our fall crop in the refrigerator and fortunately it has kept well.  I love using pomegranate in salads like this Quinoa Salad.  Today, I used it in a Mediterranean-style Kabocha Squash Salad.

I call it Mediterranean style because of the ingredients and spices I used that came together very well.  I would have loved to use more herbs but this late in to winter, most of the herbs in my garden were gone.  I only managed to find a few sprigs of mint.    Feel free to generously use mint, parsley and other herbs you have on hand.

Here is the recipe.

Mediterranean-Style Kabocha Squash Salad with Chick Peas and Pomegranate

[Printable Recipe]

Serves 4 as a meal

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup dried chickpeas or garbanzo beans (or use 1 15oz can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed)
• 1 medium kabocha squash, washed
• Seeds extracted from 1 medium pomegranate
• 1/2 cup + 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium lemon, squeezed, yielding about 6 Tbsp juice
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced fine
• 1/4 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp sumac
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• Salt to taste
• Roasted walnuts and any herbs like mint for garnish

Method:

Prepare the Chickpeas (Skip this step if you are using canned chickpeas):

• Soak the chickpeas in lukewarm water overnight or up to 2 days, changing water once or twice.  The chickpeas will double in size, so leave enough room and add enough water for soaking
• Drain the soaked chickpeas
• Boil 4-5 cups of water in a large saucepan, add the soaked chickpeas, and bring to a boil again.  Then lower the heat all the way down, add a pinch of salt if you like, then cover with a lid and cook for 60-90 mins until the chickpeas are soft.
• Pro-tip:  Cooking the soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker makes the process a lot faster.  I also hear from friends that the Instant Pot is awesome for this.
• Once the chickpeas are cooked, drain any excess water and spread it out on a kitchen towel so it can dry a bit

Roast the Kabocha Squash:

• Preheat over to 425F
• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil
• Wash and scrub the kabocha squash.  You do not need to peel it.
• With a steady hand, using a good chef knife, cut it in to halves and remove the seeds. Then cut it in to wedges and finally in to bite-sized pieces.
• In a bowl, toss the kabocha squash with 2 Tbsp of olive oil, salt and black pepper
• Spread evenly on the baking sheet and bake for around 20 mins until the squash is soft, and remove from oven

Roast the chickpeas:

• Reduce the oven heat to 350F
• Line another baking sheet with aluminum foil
• In a bowl, toss the chickpeas with 2 Tbsp of olive oil, cumin powder and sumac.  Also add salt if the chickpeas were not cooked with salt.
• Spread evenly on the baking sheet and bake for 10 mins
• If you need to roast the walnuts, do it at the same time.  Spread the walnuts on another baking sheet, and roast at 350F for 10 mins on the top rack of the oven taking care to not let it burn as walnuts burn easily.

Prepare the dressing:

• Whisk together 1/2 cup olive oil, 6 Tbsp lemon juice, pinch salt and crushed garlic

Prepare the salad:

• Toss the kabocha squash, chickpeas, pomegranate seeds with as much dressing as you want per taste.  Garnish with toasted walnuts and mint leaves and serve.

 

 

This is a very satisfying salad for a meal but can also be served as a side.  It is also a very pretty dish to serve at parties.