A deliciously festive Persimon Salad with butter lettuce, shaved fennel bulb, pomegranate seeds and a bright and refreshing citrus dressing. The perfect addition to your holiday table!
I will love the light for it shows me the way. Yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars. ~Og Mandino
To bring a little brightness and joy to your table this holiday season, serve this refreshing Persimmon Salad made with seasonal Fuyu Persimmons, pomegranate seeds and shaved fennel.
The delicious citrus dressing, with fresh oranges and limes, makes me happy every time I make it, infusing the kitchen with its bright and uplifting aroma.
Watch How to cut a Pomegranate | 2 min video!
Citrus is an instant mood lifter –and just a little secret, persimmons and citrus love being together. It’s amazing what a little squeeze of lime juice does to Fuyu persimmons –completely transforming them, bringing out all their lovely tropical flavors and nuances. Give it a try. It wasn’t until I did, that I began to fully appreciate this lovely fruit.
To balance out traditionally heavy holiday dishes, I purposefully left out the cheese and nuts from this salad, but if feeling so inclined, roasted pistachios could work well here. So would crumbled goat cheese.
This salad is also very pretty served plated. Just layer the dressed lettuce between slices of persimmon. Finish with pomegranate seeds and orange zest.
In this recipe, I’m using Fuyu Persimmons. If you are confused about the types of persimmons out there, read this!
The Difference between Fuyu and Hachiya persimmons:
- Fuyu persimmons are distinguished by their flat bottoms and squat shape, and are at their best when just slightly soft. They will ripen after being picked, so allow them to sit on the kitchen counter for a couple of days until their flesh gives to the touch just a little. Fuyus are commonly eaten raw, often peeled ( but not always) and sliced and added to salads or salsas. If thinly slicing, the skin is not too noticeable. This is up to you. Fuyus are also great roasted.
- Hachiya persimmons are oval and elongated, like the shape of an acorn. They are mouth-puckeringly tart unless meltingly ripe. Unripe, they are full of tannins, almost like eating a very green banana skin, if you can imagine that. Totally inedible. But ripe hachiya persimmons are silky soft on the inside with a luscious jelly-like quality, perfect for scooping out with a spoon or in baking bread and cakes. Hachiya persimmons are not the ones you want for this salad. But if wanting to experiment with them, let them soften on the counter until they are very tender to the touch, skin darkened and almost wrinkled. If they look perfect on the outside, it’s pretty safe to say, they are still unripe.
My first taste of persimmon as a child was of an unripe Hachiya. It destroyed me. It was one of the most disturbingly awful things I had ever tasted and it wasn’t until my early forties, that I let one near me again!
Anyways, make sure to use Fuyu Persimmons for this recipe and you will be just fine!
I love how the centers look like a bright star!
Thinly slice or shave the fennel bulb.
Assemble the salad and spoon the dressing overtop.
For more vegan salads, be sure to go here!
Whereever this finds you…I hope you have the happiest of holidays!
Love,
Persimmon Salad with Citrus Dressing
- Prep Time: 20
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: salad, vegan
- Method: Tossed
- Cuisine: Northwest
Description
Persimmon Salad with shaved fennel, butter lettuce, pomegranate seeds, and a bright citrus dressing. Perfect for the holiday table! Vegan and Gluten-free.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
- 1–2 Fuyu persimmons, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup very thinly sliced red onion
- 8 oz butter lettuce
- 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
- 1/8 C pistachios (optional)
- 1/8 C crumbled goat cheese or feta ( optional)
Citrus Dressing
Instructions
- Mix all the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl or jar. Set aside.
- Toss butter lettuce, fennel and onion with some of the dressing ( you may not need all).
- To platter the salad– lay a bed of dressed greens on a platter. Scatter slices of persimmon over the dressed lettuce. Garnish with pomegranate seeds ( and pistachio and goat cheese if using), and spoon a little more dressing on the persimmons. Crack some pepper over top.
- To plate the salad -layer slices of persimmon with dressed lettuce fennel mixture, top with pomegranate.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 242
- Sugar: 17.7 g
- Sodium: 229.8 mg
- Fat: 15.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 25 g
- Fiber: 4.4 g
- Protein: 4.9 g
- Cholesterol: 6.5 mg
I had this recipe on my radar for a couple of years. I bought some fuyu’s a couple of weeks ago and waited until they were ripe. Today was the day. I made the recipe as listed and it turned out excellent. Magnificent doesn’t give it enough justice. The dressing on the greens, the crunchiness of the fennel and onion were a match made in heaven. The pomegranate, persimmon, pistachios and cheese were icing on the cake. Another new favorite. Thanks for another great one
Thanks so much Trudy!
is it ok to prep the fennel and cut the persimmons a day in advance ? and toss and dress the next dAY? I want the persimmionns to maintain their color and vibrancy . thank you
I think the fennel would be fine cut ahead, but i would do the persimmons the day of. 🙂
excellent!
Thanks Carmen!
Made this tonight…so delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Great to hear! Thanks so much!
I can’t wait to make this next week!
Yay! Let me know what you think!
Delicious! This was my go-to lunch salad in the midst of all the holiday eating. Thank you for this!
Perfect, glad you are enjoying it!
Very interesting blog. A lot of blogs I see these days don’t really provide anything that attract others, but I’m most definitely interested in this one. Just thought that I would post and let you know.
It looks amazing and I absolutely adore persimmons. I will definitely try this salad.
That is probably one of the most gorgeous salads I have seen in a long long time. I am a bit embarrassed to say, but I don’t think I have ever tasted a persimmon. I have to change that.What a great way to do it.
I’ve never made a salad with persimmon’s before, this is definitely something that I need to try. I am just loving all the fresh and vibrant colours and flavours!
Thanks Thalia, have a beautiful week!
Wow, your pictures just bring out the beauty of these fruits and veggies… So much light… Incredible!
This salad is GORGEOUS!! All those colors are making my eyes all kinds of happy.
AND all that health is making my way-too-full-of-cookies tummy happy too. Love persimmons! Pinned!
This is an absolutely perfect winter salad! Love all that fruit in there!
Thanks Katrina!!