Recipe: Fruity winter salad with maple-mustard vinaigrette
Persimmon and mandarin slices bring pop to this salad. Dried cherries and pecans add texture. Debbie Arrington
Orange-hued fruit – particularly mandarins and persimmons – take the place of tomatoes in my winter salads. They add sweet and juicy contrast to crunchy greens. Their cheery flavors and colors also brighten gloomy cold days.
This salad combines shaved Brussels sprouts and spinach with fuyu persimmon and mandarins. Dried cherries and chopped pecans add more flavor and crunch. Holding all these tastes and textures together is an equally flavorful maple-mustard vinaigrette.
For this salad, choose a round apple-like Fuyu persimmon (not a pointy Hachiya) that’s still relatively firm.
Fruity winter salad
Makes 2 large or 4 small servings
Ingredients:
1 cup Brussels sprouts, washed and trimmed
2 cups spinach, torn by hand
1 large Fuyu persimmon, cored and peeled
2 mandarins, peeled and separated into wedges
¼ cup dried cherries
¼ cup chopped pecans
For vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
With a sharp knife or mandoline, slice Brussels sprouts into thin crosswise slices. Slice persimmon into thin wedges. Remove any seeds from mandarin wedges.
In a large bowl, combine shaved Brussels sprouts, torn spinach, sliced persimmon, mandarin wedges, dried cherries and chopped pecans.
Make vinaigrette. In a jar, combine all vinaigrette ingredients. Cover and shake.
Add vinaigrette to salad ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently and serve.
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Garden Checklist for week of April 14
It's still not warm enough to transplant tomatoes directly in the ground, but we’re getting there.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden needs nutrients. Fertilize shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.
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