persimmon pomegranate salad with mixed baby greens

i am so done with thanksgiving. it was great, nicest one yet we all concurred. but that heavy holiday food. oh my. happily, one light spot on our menu is our traditional thanksgiving persimmon pomegranate mixed greens salad. crunchy, tart, leafy, tasty, acidic counterpoint to the rest of the meal. i invented this salad about 8 years ago and we've been eating it by popular request ever since. at the time, we were living in tiburon, california, with our lovely panoramic views of the golden gate bridge and the bay from our kitchen/living room windows (my that was nice) and locally grown persimmons as well as pomegranates from southern california were abundant in the markets.

luckily, due to the magic of modern food distribution and transport, something i am thankful for every day (and especially at the holidays), i can still get these ingredients, high quality and quite fresh here in connecticut. if i was going to be a locavore, which i never will be, i would have to live in central california i think, or some other equally fertile growing region in the world. i am sure someone from new england did not come up with that locavore concept, had to have been a californian, although i'm just guessing here. i would have to build a greenhouse system to get local food and apparently that has a higher carbon load than shipping food (according to BBC news) from its traditional growing region. i just cant live without grapefruit and avocados and artichokes, chocolate, coffee and tea. or wouldn't want to. anyway, other than the pumpkin pie, (which i have professed my profound love for here on cup and table many many times), this is one of my favorite items on our yearly thanksgiving menu:

pomegranate persimmon salad

serves 6 - 8

12 ounces mixed baby greens, rinsed and dried

1/3 pomegranate, seeds only (about 1/3 cup)

1 large or 2 small fuyu persimmons, peeled and sliced

1 leek, finely sliced

dressing

2TBSP pomegranate cherry juice

3TBSP seasoned rice vinegar

3TBSP extra virgin olive oil

(a touch of dijon mustard or some minced shallots is nice here but i usually skip it because i am overwhelmed in the kitchen at this point) assemble ingredients. whisk up the dressing. pour. toss. serve. bon appetit.