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Pomegranate and Queso Fresco Salsa

By Marcela Valladolid

3.8

(3)

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Pomegranate and Queso Fresco SalsaTK

This is a salsa, but whenever I make it I just end up eating it by the spoonful like a salad. The combination of the tart, crisp pomegranate, creamy cheese, and crunchy pine nuts makes a wonderful topping for grilled fish or even a carne asada taco. Pine nuts can be expensive because of the labor-intensive work of extracting them from the pine cones, plus they have a high fat content, which makes them turn rancid quickly. So buy a small quantity and store them in the fridge for no longer than three months.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Makes 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients

1/4 cup pine nuts
Seeds from 1 large pomegranate (about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
2 tablespoons crumbled queso fresco or feta
1 teaspoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    1 Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden, 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.

    Step 2

    2 In a small bowl, mix the pomegranate seeds, basil, queso fresco, and cooled pine nuts. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Reprinted with permission from Mexican Made Easy: Everyday Ingredients, Extraordinary Flavor by Marcela Valladolid, © 2011 Clarkson Potter a division of Random House, Inc. MARCELA VALLADOLID is the host of Discovery Travel and Living's Relatos con Sabor (Stories with Flavor), which airs in every Latin American country and on Discovery Familia in the United States. Raised in Tijuana, Mexico, she attended the Los Angeles Culinary Institute and later the Ritz-Escoffier Cooking School in Paris. A former recipe editor/tester at Bon Appétit magazine, she became widely known after appearing as a contestant on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. She and her young son divide time between Tijuana and San Diego.
TagsSalsaCondimentMexicanLatin AmericanPomegranateFruitQueso FrescoCheeseDairyFetaPine NutNutGluten FreeVegetarianQuickEasyWeeknight Meals5 Ingredients or FewerCookbooks

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