Blueberry and Pomegranate Salad

I have to admit that I have recently developed

a girl crush.

You see, I have been watching Bitchin' Kitchen with

Nadia G. on The Cooking Channel and I am in love.

She is irreverent, funny and a good cook to boot.

It was only a matter of time before I was

tempted to try one of her recipes.

This was the recipe that lured me in.

The ingredients for blueberry and pomegranate salad are:

lemon

pita

extra virgin olive oil

sea salt (I later opted to use another salt than the one shown)

freshly cracked black pepper

hot chile pepper flakes

brown sugar

pumpkin seeds

fresh mint leaves

organic blueberries

pomegranate seeds (more properly called arils)

mshalale cheese (or feta cheese)

(see recipe for amounts)

The first task was to free the arils from the pith.



I score the fruit from crown to bottom and back up again.

I repeat, quartering the fruit.



Gently pry the fruit apart with your fingers.



Then, work over a bowl of cool water and with the

flesh side of your thumbs, free the arils from the pith.



The final step is to clean the arils.

I get another bowl of clean, cool water and clean the arils

yet again.



This took me almost an hour to do just one pomegranate.



Tedious, tiring and boring, but worth it.

And then I found a food that was even more difficult to prep.

Pumpkin seeds.

These little devils are sealed in tight little shells

that resist all attempts to easily open them.

The Foodie Boyfriend and I spent 45 minutes working

to get this much de-shelled.

Then we cried "Uncle!"

We actually needed 1/4 cup. Oh well.

The next step was to toast the pumpkin seeds.

Keep tossing them so they don't burn.

Then it was on to the pita.

One for the salad and one for the cooks.

Olive oil and lemon juice was brushed on top.

I remembered that I had French Grey Sea Salt

on hand, so that was used.

Then black pepper and red chile flakes were sprinkled on top.

These baked in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Salad assembly begins.

The mshalale cheese is cut.

This is an Arabian cheese that is braided.

Nigella seeds are added to the cheese.

This is a salty and stringy cheese.

Feta cheese can be substituted if this cheese cannot be found.

I had to go to our local ethnic market to find it.

Mint leaves are added to the salad.

Then the torn pita is added before the salad dressing of

lemon juice, black pepper, brown sugar and extra virgin olive oil

is added.

Do this just before service.

As a bonus, I was fortunate enough to find

prime beef rib eye steaks for $3.99 at my local

grocery store last week.

I know, I thought it was a typo, too.

I bought the last four steaks they had.

That was enough for two meals for us, as I cut each steak in half.

Dinner tonight was rib eye steak,

buttered egg noodles and

the blueberry and pomegranate salad.

This salad was divine.

I can't say that I would go through the trouble of shelling

the pumpkin seeds again, but if I could find them already

shelled I would go for it.

Otherwise, I would probably substitute sunflower seeds.

As an unbelievable bonus, even my super-picky husband

liked this dish.

Nadia G, you rock!