Turkey Salad with Pomegranate and Pear

GLUTEN-FREE | GRAIN-FREE | DAIRY-FREE

This colorful and healthy salad makes good use of leftover turkey. Serve small portions as an appetizer or larger portions as a main course.

I use my mandolin to make quick work of the pear (with a julienne blade), bell pepper and onion (with a thin slicing blade). You can use a sharp knife if you don't have a mandolin.

To the vinaigrette I added some of my dad's Choke Cherry Jelly, made in small batches using hand-picked Minnesota choke cherries. Since I don't eat a lot of bread, I use the jelly in sauces and vinaigrettes, like this one. You can use any all-fruit jelly or jam instead, made with cherries or another dark red fruit like blackberries.

1 to 2 cups chopped cooked turkey
1 pomegranate, arils removed
1 Asian pear, cut into julienne
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup parsley leaves plus more to garnish
Choke Cherry Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Toss together the turkey, pomegranate arils, pear, bell pepper, onion, and parsley leaves.

Stir in just enough Choke Cherry Vinaigrette to coat the ingredients lightly but thoroughly. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl or plate and garnish it with parsley leaves.


Choke Cherry Vinaigrette

I make this dressing with my dad's Choke Cherry Jelly, made in small batches using hand-picked Minnesota choke cherries. You can use any all-fruit jelly or jam instead, made with cherries or another dark red fruit like blackberries.

This recipe makes more than enough for a large bowl of salad. Double or triple the ingredients to make more if you want to keep some in the fridge for future use.

1 tbsp Deed's Choke Cherry Jelly (or other all-fruit jelly or jam)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon Mustard 
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, first cold pressing
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

Whisk together all of the ingredients until smooth.
(An immersion blender works great for making bigger batches.)
Serve it immediately or store it in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid in the fridge for future use.

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