pancetta

Have y’all every had a persimmon before? I hadn’t until Saturday when I ran across a whole stash of them at Trader Joe’s, on special. If you have seen them, you know they look a little bit like a squat, orange tomato. Which is kind of what I expected them to taste like. But, nope. Not at all. They have a mild, sweet flavor that some have described as how you wish a pumpkin to taste. Whatever that means.

Since I clearly don’t have much exposure with persimmons, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the bag full I picked up at the store. Do I cook with them, bake with them? I had no idea. So I just ended up making a salad.

But what does one put in a salad with persimmons? I certainly had no idea. So I relied on all the other Fall foods I had available, like pomegranate and pumpkin seeds. To balance out all the sweetness, I also added some crispy pancetta, which is a fancier (and Italian) version of bacon bits.

To me, the best part of the whole salad was the dressing. (But, if we are honest. I think the best part of most salads is the dressing.) I made the dressing with some of the rendered fat from the pancetta as the fat in the vinaigrette, and mixed that with a bit of maple syrup and white balsamic vinegar. So essentially, it was dressed with bacon fat and maple syrup. Oh so healthy

Despite the fact that I just threw this salad together as an attempt to use up these persimmons purchased on a whim, it was delightful! The persimmons were sweet, the pomegranates were tart, the pancetta was salty, and the kale was lightly coated in maple vinaigrette. I had only intended to have half the salad for lunch, and save the rest for dinner, but before I knew it, the entire bowl was gone.

That happens more than I would like to admit.

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I love salads, but I am actually a little intimidated to make them at home. Restaurant salads include a variety of ingredients that 1) I normally wouldn’t pair together, or, 2) don’t keep on hand. If you told me to go make a salad right now all I could throw together is lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and baby carrots.

Which is why whenever I make a salad at home I default to a classic: the caprese. A traditional caprese salad is usually just fresh mozzarella, tomato slices, and basil. For a little jazzed up version I added fresh strawberries and crispy pancetta.

I started with a few strawberries I had left over from the farmers market, a plump tomato, and some freshly picked basil.

I also cubed up some left over bread, tossed them in a bit of olive oil and toasted them in the oven until they were crunchy and golden brown.

And I threw in the meat so that my husband would think of this as a meal and not just a side. I browned a small package of pancetta that I picked up in the deli section of my grocery store. If you want to make this recipe and can’t find pancetta, bacon would be the prefect substitute.

For the dressing I stuck with a simple homemade balsamic. There is so much flavor from the strawberries, tomatoes, and basil, you don’t really need anything too extravagant. To make the balsamic dressing I mixed 2 parts oil with 1 part balsamic, then added salt, pepper, and minced garlic to taste.

Then mix it all up and you got yourself a beautiful, and filling, salad!

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Persimmon and Pomegranate Kale Salad

Strawberry Caprese Salad