The light flavors and fresh crunch of a green salad offers welcome contrast to the parade of gratins, roasts, braises and casseroles on our tables this time of year. Green salads can be every bit as festive (and comforting!) as our favorite fall sides. These are our five top picks to grace the holiday table plus the products you’ll need to make them sing.
1. Spinach, Pear and Pomegranate Salad
We think the best starter salads take the edge off people’s hunger immediately. That’s one of many reasons we love this five-star-reviewed Spinach, Pear and Pomegranate Salad. A tablespoon of blue cheese graces each serving, plus plenty of buttery walnuts. Top-quality olive oil, cider vinegar, French mustard and honey mingle for a super-simple pantry dressing that brings it all together.
2. Test Kitchen No-Wilt Brussels Sprout Salad
Want the holidays to feel a little easier? Make this Brussels Sprout Salad in advance, then set it out without having to worry it will wilt or become soggy. The key to keeping things simple is a mandoline, like our bestselling OXO mandoline, which you can use on both the sprouts and the red onion. The rest is just creamy Gorgonzola, more yummy walnuts, olive oil, mustard, our epic White Balsamic Condiment, really good maple syrup, and apples. Can a salad be delightful? Yes, it can.
3. Bobby Flay Harvest Salad
Hearty as can be, this Bobby Flay Harvest Salad features a bevy of goodies. Expect pecans, pomegranate seeds, wild rice, cranberries, and kale, all bound together with a fabulous apple cider-mustard vinaigrette. Time-saving tip: Snag our exclusive Chef’n Kale and Greens Stripper. It’ll help you get out the hard ribs in the Tuscan kale, and you’ll use it during every season. (Those little holes in the gadget will help you even get leaves off marjoram easily!)
4. Winter Greens and Persimmon Salad
Green salads aren’t always what you expect. Fuyu persimmons (the tomato-shaped, firm ones, not the oblong, more bitter Hachiya variety) bloom in this gorgeous Winter Greens and Persimmon Salad. You’ll want that mandoline again in order to keep your persimmons looking sprightly.
5. Kale with Roasted Fuji Apples and Pomegranate
Break out the kale gadget again—we told you you’d need it!— for Kale with Roasted Fuji Apples and Pomegranate. You’ll also want to use the best mustard and olive oil you’ve got for the super-simple vinaigrette. (Shallots and brown sugar lend it depth and sparkle, respectively.) It’s the rare dish that’s precisely as good as it looks, and this is one of them.