Asian pear and pomegranate over greens: a bowl that makes vegetables easy to love

Pomegranate seeds do not come out of the fruit easily. You have to score the skin, break it open under water, and work the seeds loose with your thumbs while they scatter everywhere. It is a genuinely fussy few minutes, and it is worth doing anyway, because a bowl this good looking is a bowl you actually reach for again tomorrow.

Mixed greens are carrying folate and fiber your gut microbes rely on, and the pomegranate adds its own deep-red plant pigments, compounds linked to antioxidant activity in the research. The dressing's 2 tablespoons of honey are doing less work than you might think, since the Asian pear carries most of the actual sweetness, which keeps the whole bowl lighter on sugar than it tastes.

Build it in layers before you toss it, pale pear against dark greens, pomegranate seeds scattered on top like something out of a jewelry box rather than a produce aisle. Look at it for a second before the fork goes in. A bowl of vegetables you are genuinely excited about is not a small thing when you are relearning how to eat.

Ingredients

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Salad:

• 8 cups mixed greens
• 2 Asian pears, cored and sliced (any pear works)
• 1 cup pomegranate seeds

Method

Whisk the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, sea salt, and ground ginger together in a small bowl until smooth, then taste and adjust the salt.

Put the mixed greens, sliced pear, and pomegranate seeds in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over and toss gently until everything is lightly coated. Serve right away.

A word on what you are doing here

A bowl like this is a small daily pleasure and a wide spread of plants at once. Build it to be beautiful, let the fruit and the greens share the plate, and eat it slowly. Over time these become the bowls you reach for first, because a body learns to love what makes it feel well.

*Adapted from acleanplate.com*

*Lower-sugar note: the sugar here is the pears, not added sweetener. For less, use a smaller amount of pears and lean the bowl toward the greens and lower-sugar berries.*