Pomegranate, Pear And Orange Salad - Raw Vegan And Gluten Free

An autumn fruit salad of pomegranate seeds, pear and orange.

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A Delightful Combination
Sometimes I just toss a few things I have in the house together and something wonderful happens. This is one of those times. I picked up a big pomegranate at the market (because how can I possibly resist this beautiful fruit) not knowing what I was going to do with it. I already had an entire bag of ripening pears at home together with a couple of fresh oranges. I diced a pear and an orange up very fine so their size didn't overshadow the little pomegranate seeds and just tossed them together with a little squirt of orange juice and POW - what a fresh, crunchy, delicious combination this made! And it only took a few minutes and 3 ingredients. 

Just in Time for Thanksgiving
This simple salad makes a great side dish for Thanksgiving or for a holiday brunch. It goes together quickly which is a "must" during the holidays. You can make the orange and pomegranate seeds ahead of time but don't add the pear until the last minute as it doesn't keep well.

Pomegranates are rich in vitamin C, K and folate and very high in fiber.

Raw Cleanse
This high fiber, nutrient and phytochemical-rich salad is perfect for a raw food cleanse. It's advisable to do a few "One Day Raw Food Cleanses" before you enter into the holiday season. Just a single, 100 calorie serving of this salad provides about 1/3rd of your daily requirement of vitamin C (just in time for flu season) and nearly 1/4th of your fiber needs.

Pomegranate, Pear and Orange Salad
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 4 servings]

1 pomegranate
1 large orange
1 large pear

To prepare the pomegranate, cut off the top, score the rind in 4 quadrants and break the pomegranate apart over a bowl filled with water. Submerge the broken fruit and separate the seeds from the pith with your fingers. The seeds will sink to the bottom and the pith and rind will float to the top. Skim off the pith and rind and drain the seeds. See my post on How to Clean a Pomegranate. Place the seeds in a bowl.

1 large pomegranate yields about 1 1/2 cups of seeds 

To prepare the orange, cut off the top about 1/2 inch down so there's enough fresh pulp remaining in the top to squeeze into the salad.  Squeeze the juice from the top into the bowl of pomegranate seeds (you only need a teaspoon or two). Peel the rest of the orange and dice into small pieces. Place the orange pieces into the bowl.

Cut the pear into quarters, remove the seeds and dice into small pieces. Toss immediately with the orange and pomegranate seeds.

Serve immediately as a fruit salad or scoop onto a bed of greens.

Per serving: 107 calories, 1 g fat, 0.1 g saturated fat, 2 g protein, 26 g carbohydrates, 5.4 g dietary fiber and 27 mg sodium.