Sorghum Pomegranate Salad with Goat Cheese and Walnuts Recipe

Switch up your cold grain salads and add some sorghum! In this recipe, the chewy grain is combined with pomegranate and walnuts, and then topped off with tangy goat cheese.  

I was cooling down from my run last week, taking a nice leisurely walk back to the house, when I saw it. Tucked between two houses was a tree with long branches that were bending under the weight of beautiful red pomegranates.

I see fruit trees around here all the time – figs, citrus, persimmons – and while I’ve seen a pomegranate tree before, I had never seen one in our neighborhood. It was gorgeous.

And I want some!

When I see trees loaded with fruit that seem to be untouched I am so tempted to knock on the door and ask if the owners are going to use the fruit. But I have never gotten up the courage. Then again, the stakes have never been quite this high. A pomegranate might be just enough to get me out of my comfort zone.

So here is the plan. I’m going to watch the tree for the next few weeks and if none of the fruit disappears, I’m doing it. I’m going to walk up and ring the doorbell.

I think. Maybe.

Have you ever approached a stranger for fruit? I need some encouragement.

Until I get up the courage, I’ll just have to keep buying them.

I picked up one last week to make the mason jar salad and I had quite a few arils leftover. After finishing a piece last week for HobbyFarms.com on new grains to try, I’ve had sorghum on my mind. I don’t use it nearly as often as I should. I love those little chewy grains that cook up to be very similar to couscous. They are so good in cold grain salads.

I thought a few pomegranates might give the salad the fall touch I was looking for. I also pulled some Redwood Hill Farm goat cheese out of the freezer. Did you know that chèvre freezes well? I didn’t until this year. It added a great tangy flavor to the sweet and saltiness of the salad.

If you’ve never cooked with whole grain sorghum before, fair warning, it takes about one hour to become tender. It’s a bit of a hands-off process, though. It just needs to simmer, covered. It’s well worth the effort, but it’s best to make it when you can keep an eye on it as it cooks. You can make it ahead of time; chill it and it will be ready when you want to throw the salad together.

Sorghum Pomegranate Salad with Goat Cheese and Walnuts

Makes: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

1 cup sorghum
½ cup pomegranate arils
1/3 cup diced red onion
1/3 cup toasted walnuts
1 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp pure maple syrup
¼ tsp fine ground sea salt
Pinch ground black pepper
2 oz. fresh goat cheese

Prep

Combine the sorghum with 3 cups of water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer, cover and let cook for 50 to 60 minutes. It is ready when the grains are tender and slightly chewy. Drain any excess water and rinse with cold water.

In a medium bowl, stir together the sorghum, pomegranate arils, onion and walnuts. In a small dish, whisk together the olive oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat.

Transfer the salad to a serving bowl. Top with small pieces of the goat cheese just before serving.

Disclosure: While this is not a product review post, I did receive some of the products used in this recipe free of charge so I’ll fully disclose. I’ve done a previous review of Redwood Hill Farm products and I received the sorghum from Bob’s Red Mill at IFBC last year.

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