Serves 6
For the salad:
- 1/2 head Napa cabbage, finely chopped
- Big handful radicchio leaves, finely chopped
- Big handful Russian kale, or other purple or red kale, stemmed, leaves finally chopped
- 8 small tomatoes, quartered (optional)
- 1/4 cup dried cherries, soaked for a few minutes in warm water, drained
- 1/4 cup pomegranate arils*
- 4 to 6 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
- 1 cup toasted, unsalted cashews
- A few leaves of fresh mint, chopped
For the vinaigrette:
- 2 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger root
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Combine all the salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Combine all the vinaigrette ingredients in a small, covered jar; shake well.
Pour half the vinaigrette over the salad; toss through with tongs to distribute evenly. Heap the salad onto a large platter. Serve, passing remaining vinaigrette alongside.
(This salad, even once dressed, will keep for 2 days, covered, in the fridge, so long as you use sturdy greens like kale and cabbage. You’ll enjoy less longevity with frillier, more tender greens.)
* There are many ways to seed a pomegranate. We recommend this method: Hold a paring knife at a 45 degree angle and run it, shallowly, in a circular motion around the top (flower) end of the fruit. Pop off the top. Flip the fruit and score a circle around the stem end; remove that as well. Then score top to bottom (again, shallowly) along the bulging ridges. Finally, use your hands to separate the pomegranate into sections, peel off the remaining papery white skin, and pop out the arils with your fingers.