Edamame Salad with Persimmon, Peppers and Pine Nuts {Vegan, Gluten-Free}

Who says salads are just for summer? This Edamame Salad with Persimmon, Peppers and Pine Nuts takes advantage of two of nature’s treats during the fall and winter months — blood oranges and persimmons. If neither is available, you can sub an average orange for the blood orange, and an Asian pear or apple for the Fuyu persimmon.

“This is the most freakin’ awesome salad you’ve ever made.”
–my husband, who has been the guinea pig for hundreds, if not thousands, of my salads.

Let’s rummage around in the fridge, the vegetable drawer and the fruit basket for a healthy lunch, shall we? Throwing together a salad bowl from what is on hand often yields my very best results.

One of my favorite things about fall and winter is gorgeous Fuyu persimmons, so I try to always have one or two in the fruit bowl on the counter. From there, I can start almost any sort of salad. Fuyus are the firm variety of persimmon, and can be eaten out of hand or sliced like an apple. They make a wonderful salad addition with their sweet crunch.

To my persimmon, I added some ready-to-eat edamame for protein, a blood orange and yellow bell pepper for color, some dried cranberries for a sweet pop and deep red, and some toasted pine nuts for crunch.

The simplest vinaigrette with a pinch of smoked sea salt married everything, giving me a nutritious lunch salad that was packed with flavor and texture and the colors of the rainbow.

Leftovers are great for the school or work lunch bag the next day.

Let’s make it, shall we?

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*The salt I used

In this recipe I wanted a bit of a smoky undertone, to contrast all the sweet fruits and vegetables, so I reached for Apple Smoked Sea Salt from the San Francisco Salt Co. It’s pure sea salt that has been slowly smoked above an applewood fire. It’s Kosher, with no artificial flavors or additives, and its medium brown coloring comes from the smoking process. I’ve used it for meat, chicken, soup and salad – wherever I wanted just a touch of smoke without it being overpowering or harsh. I find that with a high quality specialty salt like this, you will use far less than you would of regular table salt. It’s about $7 for a 4-ounce container, which will last you 100 years.  😉 This would make a great gift for the foodie in your life, and they have a number of additional varieties, including cherrywood, alderwood, hickorywood, whiskey, sriracha, lemon rosemary, etc.

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Disclosure: Melissa’s Produce sent the edamame, cranberries, pine nuts, blood orange, persimmon and shallots for recipe development. San Francisco Salt Co. sent the salt for review.  

This post was originally published Oct. 26, 2016. It has been republished here.

Tagged as: bell pepper, blood orange, dried sweetened cranberries, edamame, extra virgin olive oil, Fuyu, Fuyu persimmon, garlic, gluten-free, Melissas's Produce, pine nuts, rice vinegar, Salad, shallots, smoked salt, vegan