Healthy Holiday Recipes: Chopped Fennel and Persimmon Salad

Chopped Fennel and Persimmon Salad

I love persimmons.  They're one of the most under-rated and under-utilized seasonal fruits out in the markets right now.  Fresh permissions are full of anti-oxidants, phyto-nutrients, Vitamin B, Vitamin C, and potassium, so eat all you want! Did I mention that they taste DELICIOUS?!  If a tomato, an apple and a mango had a baby...persimmons would be the result!  So, this coming week, we'll be featuring some easy, healthy, delicious and FUN recipes that feature PERSIMMONS!

Fuyu Persimmons

There are two basic types of persimmons, fuyu and hachiya.  The FUYU looks like a small, orange tomato and these are the ones mostly found in common grocery stores.  They have a thick, waxy skin (kind of like an apple) and can be eaten whole.  The HACHIYA is more shaped like a Roma tomato and can only be eaten when its fully ripe and soft (they taste horrible if they're not ripe).  I used FUYU persimmons this week.

Today's salad is FULL of healthy holiday ingredients.  Fresh fennel, persimmons and apples are the perfect mix and compliment to a few salad basics like leaf lettuce, cucumber and sugar plum tomatoes.  The dressing is a fat-free agave nectar and spicy mustard vinaigrette, but it really is delicious just on its own.

Chopped Fennel and Persimmon Salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes / Cook Time: 0 minutes / Servings: 6

Chopped Fennel and Persimmon Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 head leaf lettuce, chopped
• 1 medium bulb of fresh fennel, chopped
• 2 large Fuyu persimmons, chopped 
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and chopped
• 1 large Fuji apple, cored and chopped
• 1 cup sugar plum tomatoes, quartered
• cracked black pepper to taste

 Steps:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Toss with agave nectar and spicy mustard vinaigrette and serve.

Agave Nectar and Spicy Mustard Vinaigrette

Prep Time: 5 minutes / Cook Time: 0 minutes / Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
• 1/4 cup raw agave nectar
• 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Steps:
Whisk all ingredients together in a small mixing bowl.  Toss with salad and serve.