A couple of weeks ago, I shared an article about how there’s more to Greek cheeses than just Feta and Halloumi (Cyprus). While I love both those cheeses, I do love cheeses at large and that of course includes the world of Greek cheeses.

Today’s salad contains Manouri a whey cheese, made as a by-product of Feta production. It’s semi-soft, buttery and it’s one of my fave cheeses. Look for it at Greek specialty shops.

It’s great baked, “as is” with honey or a compote, grated for topping pasta or as a filling for phyllo pies, it grills wonderfully and, makes for a nice accompaniment to a salad.

This salad is built for winter: my popular three-citrus dressing, salad greens, Manouri cheese, mandarins and pomegranate seeds and finally, pistachios for some nice crunch.

This salad packs vitamin C, iron, fiber and as always, delicious!

Salad With Manouri Cheese, Mandarin, Pistachios, Pomegranate Seeds

Recipe by Peter MinakiCourse: Appetizer, VegetarianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4-6

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Ingredients

• 8 cups salad greens (I like baby arugula)

• 250 gr. Manouri cheese, cut into wedges or crumbled

• 1 cup mandarin segments

• about 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

• 1/2 cup roasted pistachios (unsalted)

• Dressing

• 1/4 cup of finely diced shallots (or red onions)

• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

• 2 Tbsp. honey

• 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

• juice of one lemon

• juice of one orange

• juice of 1/2 grapefruit

• approx. 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

• fresh ground pepper

• sea salt to taste

Directions

• Place arugula in a large bowl, have your other salad components prepared (mise en place).
• Into a mason jar, add all your dressing ingredients and seal. Shake vigorously and then open up and taste. Adjust seasoning to taste.
• Add dressing to arugula in increments while tossing. Add dressing as desired.
• Top with Manouri cheese, pistachios, mandarins, pomegranate seeds and serve.