pomegranate & rye salad

For a Christmas party this year I made this salad that I learned to make from a class at Kitchen Kneads, the chef is Joy and she is the master at using whole grains in a scrumptious delicious way!

This salad is no exception. . .

It is so yummy AND healthy!

but before I talk about salad, allow me to ramble on about da blog for just a minute. . .
As I look back at the history of da blog I averaged one post per week for 2011, and have had over 5000 peeps take a peek, from all over the world, for lots of different reasons, with a grand total of 58 comments posted directly to da blog.

When I started the blog I wasn’t sure what I would do with it, but if nothing else its been a fun hobby and gives me a way to remember some of the stuff I’ve done throughout the year.  So now a new year has begun and it will be interesting to see what sorts of stuff makes it to narration via da blog.

Hands down my LOTOJA reports have been the most highly visited, my 2010 post has had over 228 peeps look at it and my 2011 has already had over 60.  These seem to get more traffic as LOTOJA approaches, but this has been super fun to watch the popularity of these.  For a while if you were to google search “LOTOJA 2010 report” my lil-ol post was in the top 3 to pull up and for a while it was even number 1!  Beyond that everything else gets visits at random times and quantities.  The funniest was after LOTOJA the post that I titled

“LOTOJA 2011 Lottery Results” had a whopping 506 visits. . . I am certain people thought it might be the final results of the race, not my account of waiting to hear whether I was one selected to ride the ride. . .

I’m fairly certain there were 500 or so disappointed viewers whom didn’t stay and visit for long. . . I did not count all those peeks in my total count, although it would be kind of cool to claim all of them!

ahh, thanks for letting me ramble. . . 

and now, back to the salad. . .

Begin with toffee glazed almonds. . . if you can find the pre-slivered ones, it is best,

. . . or you can “sliver” them yourself, even though it’s more time consuming and a little messier, and they aren’t as pretty as if they were done before toasting.

cook up 3 slices crumbled bacon

add 1 cup sunflower seeds

combine baby spinach and spring mix in salad bowl

you will need 2 cups cooked rye, the rye is tender, but nutty. . . I like it

. . . it doesn’t taste at all like rye bread, but is nuttier than wheat berries

if you have a pressure cooker, it is the easiest and best method to cook rye. . . 

. . . or lots of stuff for that matter!

I will talk about the pressure cooker on another day in the near future. . .

dump all of this yummy goodness on top of your spinach and spring mix

now for the grapefruit. . .

If you have never done this to a grapefruit before. . . you should try it

it’s like eating a little piece of heaven. . .

. . . grapefruit heaven

begin by cutting off the end

make sure you cut off all of the white part. . . it’s bitter and VERY Icky!

now cut off the rind from the sides, following the round curve of the grapefruit. . .

. . . This works for oranges too, 

I’ve used this method for lemons and limes, but not to eat . . .

again make sure you get ALL of the icky bitter white stuff off!

. . . when you are finished your grapefruit should look like this. . . 

. . . yummmmmm

for this project you need a SHARP knife with a thin blade

on each side of the membrane, slice down to the center. . .

you will cut out each section of grapefruit

leaving all of the white icky, bitter membrane behind

when you are finished you will have only icky grapefruit membrane left

and yummyful wedges to enjoy

. . . go ahead and sneak a wedge. . .

. . .just enjoy the goodness. . .

for this salad. . . cut them in half and place them on the bed of spinach and spring mix

now get a medium size bowl and fill it with water you will want it for. . .

the next step. . .  the Pomegranate

cut pomegranate in half

place it in the water and peel away the membrane and outer skin.  The membrane and outer peel floats while the seeds sink to the bottom.

drain the water away and you have only the seeds/fruit remaining

no spraying pomegranate juice all over your tie, or white blouse, or apron. . . 

. . . pretty slick I say

add the pomegranate seeds/fruit to your salad and gently toss

add in 1/2 red onion sliced super thin. . . I did these slices at 1/8” thick

This salad is great with a poppy seed vinaigrette

. . . enjoy             

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