Warm up your holidays with this sexy, sweet, and spicy cherry salad!
Serrano and charred scallion vinaigrette add just the right amount of spice and smoke to the bed of sweet cherries you lay down to start this dish.
Creamy pinon nuts round out the flavor, along with a bit more “bite” from the scallion. Don’t skimp here – it looks like a lot of onion, but you need the spicy bite to balance out the sweetness of the cherries.
I really do love a good scallion.
Yes!
In the spirit of yearnings and yum, I give you this recipe I adapted from NY Times last year. It reflects my New Mexico roots exactly.
This dish is perfect for Christmas or any time of year, but because I can’t easily find cherries here this time of year, at least in the US, I am naming this one “Christmas in July.”
No matter the occasion, when you make this dish it will be the one that no one has ever had before!
So, in the spirit of Christmas and loving one another, I wish you Merry Christmas and happy cherry hunting!
Fiery “Christmas in July” Cherry & Pinon Nut Salad with Serrano and Charred Scallion Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds sweet cherries
- 1 bunch scallions
- 1/2 cup pinon nuts also called pine nuts
- 1 – 2 serrano peppers red or green, 1 or 2 depending on size
- 3 tbsp white balsamic or rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1/4 sea salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- Score each cherry with knife at seam circularly around center and slice in half
- Using your fingers, remove cherry pits and discard
- Place halved cherries in a large salad bowl
- Clean and trim scallions, removing tips of green ends and white frond ends
- Place entire bunch of scallions on cutting board and slice in half, separating green ends from white ends
- Take white ends and slice each scallion lengthwise into very thin strips
- Add to cherries bowl
- Remove stem and seeds from serrano and slice thinly
- Add to cherries bowl along with pinon nuts
- Toss well and drizzle with vinaigrette
For the Charred Scallion Vinaigrette
- Char green ends over stove top burner until fragrant and smoky, just blackened but not disintegrating
- Place charred ends on board and dice finely, working knife back and forth and running knife at 45-degree angle to mash into a paste
- Place paste into a small bowl
- Add vinegar, stirring well to combine
- Add olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste, whisk until smooth