Beet, pomegranate, and apple salad

Anna Harwood has shared a beautiful article and recipe for our readers. It is full of words of wisdom.

My words to all my devoted Cooking With Beth followers, are a HEALTHY HAPPY SWEET New Year to all, filled with all good things and lots of yummy recipes and good cooking experiences.

Judaism is a religion of food. On Rosh Hashanah, eating foods to symbolize hopes for the upcoming year is first recorded in the final chapter of the Bible:

‘Go your way, eat fatty foods, and drink sweet drinks, and send food portions to he who has nothing prepared… N’chemyah 8:10

And so the tradition of eating and drinking sweet delicacies began. The connection between the foods served and hopes for the coming year evolved throughout Talmudic times to include an array of delights and drinks chosen for their appearance and the sound of their name. The sages worried that with these simanim (symbols) one would become preoccupied with satisfying one’s appetite and the symbolism would be forgotten, Thus passages to be recited prior to eating the various dishes were instituted. Customs vary according to the foods and passages to be read, but it is possible to produce the perfect Rosh Hashanah meal centered on the symbolic foods complemented by the finest seasonal wines.

May our merits increase as the seeds of a pomegranate, which is eaten for its many seeds, which are said to be equivalent to one’s merits, and beetroot for the similarity between selek (beetroot) and silek (remove) as we ask that our enemies be removed.

Beetroot, Pomegranate, and Almond salad

2 heads of regular lettuce, washed and torn into pieces
7 ounces of shredded cooked beet root
seeds from 1 large pomegranate
2 1/2 ounces toasted sliced almonds

Dressing (whisk all ingredients together):

2 tablespoons lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Mix together the lettuce, beetroot, and half of the pomegranate seeds. Toss in the dressing and then sprinkle the remaining pomegranate seeds and toasted almonds over the salad.

Debby Sion, head of the education department at the Golan Heights Winery, recommends that this fresh salad is best enjoyed with a white wine such as the Yarden Mount Hermon.</p

Cooking with Beth

comments