Spinach, goat cheese & pomegranate Christmas salad

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Before indulging in some proper traditional Christmas cooking, I wanted to share with you my perfect Christmas salad! Why perfect? Well, the colors and ingredients are in theme with the holiday season, the mixture of different textures make it extra special and finally, it's a light and healthy break from all the cookies and rather filling pre-Christmas meals I've been having so far!!!

BABY SPINACH & HONEY GOAT CHEESE CROSTINI SALAD WITH A POMEGRANATE VINAIGRETTE  

Recipe

1 bag of fresh pre-washed baby spinach salad

1 whole Pomegranate 

Goat cheese

Honey

1/2 wholemeal baguette

For the Vinaigrette (the dosage is to taste):

Extra virgin olive oil

Dijon mustard

Balsamic vinegar 

Pinch of salt & pepper

Pomegranate juice (from the fresh fruit)

- Rinse the pre-washed spinach salad and keep refrigerated

- Cut the pomegranate in half and take all the seeds out*, you will also get some natural juice from the fruit, keep it aside so that you can add it to the vinaigrette (pictures 3/4)

-Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking together the olive oil, mustard, balsamic vinegar,pomegranate juice, salt & pepper until all the ingredients are well mixed together and reach a smooth texture (picture 5/6/7)

-Cut the desired amount of slices of bread and toast them, when slightly golden place a round of goat cheese on each and drizzle with a little honey, place under your oven grill until melted (picture 9)

-In a large bowl mix the salad and pomegranate dressing then make individual portions, lay the goat cheese crostini on top and sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds (picture 1/8/10)

*Seeding the pomegranate:

There are many different ways to seed a pomegranate, to me the easiest and quickest way is by cutting the fruit in half and 'beating' the flesh with a wooden spoon (picture 3/4)

Make sure that you do not have too many white pieces from the flesh as they can be a little bitter. You can juice the leftover seeds and make a delicious fresh pomegranate juice:)

Enjoy!

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