Cherry Pistachio Salad with Sweet Lemon Vinaigrette and Fresh Mint

The cherries lately have been wonderful!  They are sweet and delicious alone, but even better in desserts or savory things like salads.  When using them in a salad, I like to keep the other ingredients simple to allow the cherries to shine and the sweet flavor to be the star.  I recently made a simple salad with greens, the sweet cherries, mint for freshness (since it is wonderful with fruit), pistachios for crunch and color and a simple sweet lemon vinaigrette.  This would be the perfect first course for dinner or alongside a chilled soup or an entrée.  This is the time of year to take full advantage of cherries!

Author: Amy Lyons O’Neil

Amy has worked for Fresh and Natural Foods since 2006 contributing to the variety of healthful foods we offer. She graduated with a degree in studio art from Bethel University in 2007, but in her senior year of college, found that her passion was with the art of food. She later used her photography and culinary skills to create a vegan food and recipe blog, Fragrant Vanilla Cake. She has also written 3 cookbooks. She specializes in vegan and vegetarian recipes. Local, fresh and organic food has always been her focus in whatever she creates.

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Servings: Serves 2 | Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Ready in: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• Dressing:
• 2 Tbsp organic lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp agave nectar
• Sea salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Salad:
• 1 cup pitted halved fresh organic cherries
• 2 Tbsp fresh organic mint, cut in chiffonade
• 1 large bunch of organic arugula or greens of your choice
• 1/2 cup shelled roasted salted pistachios

Instructions

Whisk together dressing ingredients and set aside. In a large bowl, combine cherries, mint, and greens. Pour over dressing and toss to coat. Divide salad between 2 plates, and scatter pistachios over each.