Second Helping: Apple Pomegranate Salad with Tarragon Dressing

If you're unfamiliar with pomegranates, prepare to fall in love. They have a reputation for being hard to eat, but that's nonsense. Simply score the leathery outer skin, peel it open, and gently remove the gorgeous red arils from the bitter membrane. You can do this over a bowl or by immersing the fruit in water, which helps separate the membrane bits. (For a great pictorial of this method, check out this post at Wit & Whistle.)

Some people chew the arils and spit out the seeds, but I don't. I like the crunch, and spitting out those tiny seeds takes a lot of the fun out of the experience.

This fall salad came together at the farmer's market, where I find more affordable organic produce. Organic apples at $2 a pound, a head of organic red butter lettuce, a beautiful deal on pomegranates (three for $1!), tarragon from my garden -- and this salad was had for a song.

The dressing worked a miracle in my house. My older son, who has never eaten lettuce, happily ate three servings of greens. We used the dressing to season purple cauliflower for roasting the next day -- yum!

Tip: If the high price of organic food puts you off, check out the Environmental Working Group's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides. Available as a pdf or iPhone app, it identifies the "cleanest" produce and the "dirty dozen" to help you choose when to go organic.

Apple and Pomegranate Salad with Tarragon Dressing

Soaking the apple slices in acidulated water -- with lemon juice or vitamin C -- keeps them from browning. Leftover dressing will keep at least a week or two in the refrigerator.

2 to 3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 vitamin C tablets, crushed, or 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 head of butter lettuce or other greens
3 tablespoons pomegranate arils

Tarragon Dressing:
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, stir together crushed vitamin C tablets or lemon juice with water. Peel, core, and slice apples, then immerse slices in water bath for a few minutes to reduce browning. Drain.

Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake to blend. Combine greens and apples in a large bowl; drizzle dressing over and toss to combine. Top salad with pomegranate arils.

The Kids Cook Monday: Smokey Dill and Cheese Muffins

My grandma always insisted that soup was the best thing on Earth. The way she found to convince me to eat all contents from that huge white porcelain bowl was to bring something delicious as a side: Sometimes it was just plain fresh roll from her favorite bakery to be covered with butter. Other times one of her creative appetizers was there, something like stuffed cheese and ham filled potatoes.
So, for today's part of the campaign The Kids Cook Monday, here's one more way to enjoy the arrival of rainy days,and give hearty stews and soups a good company: a delicious savory muffin. The delicate dill touch enhances the smokey touch from the turkey ham. When the mix of cheeses melts inside, it create a unique texture to this impossible-to-stop-eating muffing.

Smokey Dill and Cheese Muffin

If inspired to have kids helping you, the opportunity is fantastic. They can help measuring and mixing and also chopping ham. One popular activity with the 3 years old kids is to spray the muffin pan or cups with oil.

1 cup turkey smoked ham, chopped
2 cups unbleached all -purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
4 teaspoons dill
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup lite cheddar and jack cheeses, shredded
1 egg
1/2 cup nonfat milk
1/2 cup non fat yogurt
1/2 cup canola oil

Pre-heat oven to 400 F. Stir fry smoked ham in a hot skillet and set aside. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl whisk egg with milk, yogurt and oil.  Pour the wet mix into the dry bowl gradually. Add ham, and mix the batter slowly. Bake in a greased muffin pan (or muffin cups) for about 25 minutes. Yields 12 muffins.

And the winner is...

Thanks for all the well wishes on our anniversary! We hope you're enjoying the Halloween treats in Spook Play Explore, along with the scores of recipes we've shared here in the past year.

The lucky winner of the Amazon gift card, according to the random number generator, is ... Alora! Congratulations, Alora -- we'll e-mail you to make arrangements.

(By the way, to those of you who have trouble posting comments: Thanks for your patience. I've been trying to identify what the trouble. We're not the only ones on Blogger with that problem, but the solution remains elusive. I haven't given up yet, though!)