Becky’s Simply Amazing Persimmon Arugula Salad

Hello gorgeous salad, with sweet, vibrant persimmons, creamy chunks of avocado, all nestled into a bed of snappy arugula and topped with salty feta and chopped pistachios for a bit of unexpected but welcomed crunch.

And don’t forget the so very simple lemon vinaigrette.

I’m crushing so hard on this salad right now.

All the credit for this tasty and simply amazing persimmon arugula salad goes to my friend Becky. Everyone wave and say, “Hiieee Becky!”

Becky casually strolled into a holiday party we were both at recently, subtly placed this salad in the middle of a spread of holiday cookies and sweet party treats, quickly mixed it together like NBD, and then carried on like it was just an ordinary salad.

It was the first dish among all the party food to be COMPLETELY demolished.

A SALAD BEAT OUT THE COOKIES.

Nice try Becky. I’m onto you and your salad.

But luckily for me, and for you, Becky agreed to share her super simple recipe for this winter salad that will knock your fuzzy socks off. She’s really nice like that.

1. Simplicity: only 5 ingredients + a super simple vinaigrette (which is also verrry basic with minimal ingredients).
2. Tasty combo of flavors: subtle sweetness (persimmon) + creamy & mellow (avocado) + spicy (arugula) + salty (feta) + mellow nuttiness (pistachios) = simply amazing
3. Vibrance: Who doesn’t love a beautiful salad?! We eat with our eyes first. The vibrant orange persimmons nestled into a green arugula backdrop and white feta crumblings are not to be brushed off as just another ordinary salad.

Just when winter hits that point when we begin to pine for the bountiful harvest of summer again, and the daylight hours feel so short and the nights feel soooo looong because the place where I live still hasn’t decided that setting the clocks back an hour is lame sauce…. this salad pulls us through the cold, long, dark, winter nights and shows us that there are some foods that make their debut in the winter that should not be overlooked. Like persimmons.

Are you guys familiar with persimmons? They’ve have never really been on my food radar. Until this salad.

Fuyu persimmons (versus Hachiya persimmons) create the colorful pop and subtle wow-factor in this super simple salad. Fuyus are mildly sweet, resembling something that looks like it could be related to a tomato but with a distinctive four leaf stem on top. This beautiful, winter fruit has suddenly made its way into my foodie heart.

Fuyu persimmons are ideal if looking for a raw fruit to gussy up a salad. Hachiya persimmons are often used just in baking so make sure you are purchasing the correct persimmon when making this salad.

• Arugula: Mixed greens or baby spinach would work as well but just note that your salad would be missing that peppery zip that arugula is known for.
• Avocados: Whatever you do, DO NOT pop the stem off the end of an avocado to determine if it is ripe. This piece of bad advice began circulating a while back and it’s time to lay it to rest. It’s not only an inaccurate test for ripeness but it will cause the fruit to ripen faster and rot the top of the fruit before it has had a chance to evenly ripen. Please consider the farmers who worked hard to grow this delicious fruit and instead place the fruit in the palm of your hand and give it a gentle squeeze. If you feel a slight give the avocado is ripe, if it is hard it will need to ripen for a few days, and if it is super soft it is already overripe and you should find a different avocado to take home.
• Feta: Want a tasty substitution? Try soft goat cheese or burrata.
• Persimmons: Check for ripeness by gently squeezing the fruit. A Fuyu persimmon should be firm (but not hard) to just slightly soft (not squishy or mushy). A ripe Fuyu persimmon will be bright orange in color with smooth, glossy skin. Avoid buying persimmons that have bruised or wrinkled skin or are missing their leaves.

For a full list of ingredients and quantities see the recipe card at the end of this post.

Step 1: Make the vinaigrette – Add 6 super basic ingredients (good quality extra virgin olive oil, honey, Dijon, lemon juice, salt & pepper) into a mason jar and shake, shake, shake.

Step 2: Put all the salad ingredients in a large bowl. We’re only talking 5 – arugula, persimmons, avocado, pistachios, and feta.

Step 3: Add the lemony vinaigrette to the salad and toss, toss, toss.

If I had a big red Staples easy button I’d slam it so hard right now.