a beautiful winter salad

Only slightly adapted from Martha Stewart, this was bright, crunchy, green, and delicious. Perfect for holiday entertaining or - in our case, paired with brown rice pilaf - a light winter dinner.

Ingredients:
1 fennel bulb
6 oz green beans
1 pomegranate
1-3 oz sheep's milk feta (vary according to your preference)
mesclun salad greens or watercress
2 Tbl. pomegranate molasses
2 Tbl. mustard (we used stone ground)
1 Tbl. honey
1/4-1/3 c. olive oil

halve a medium fennel bulb lengthwise. core. slice thinly. Place in a bowl, toss with the juice of 1 lemon, and set aside. (Juice keeps the fennel from discolouring while you make the rest of the salad.)

trim 1/3 to 1/2 pound of green beans and cut into approximately 2" lengths. Blanch in boiling water, about 1 minute, or until they are a vivid bright green. Quickly drain and plunge into an ice bath to stop the cooking. Let cool in the ice bath, then drain, pat dry, and set aside.

Whisk together 2 generous Tbl. pomegranate molasses (Whole Foods carries it, and you can also find it at many mediterranean import shops), 1 Tbl. honey, and 2 Tbl. mustard (we used stone ground). Add about 1/4 to 1/3 c. olive oil in a thin stream, whisking to emulsify into a thick dressing.

Seed 1 pomegranate.

Place half a bunch of watercress, rinsed, or a handful of mesclun salad greens on a plate. Drain fennel. Arrange fennel and green beans over lettuce. Top with pomegranate seeds, crumbled sheep's milk feta (so much better than cow's milk feta!), and drizzle liberally with the dressing.