Free Recipes, Easy Meals and Special Dinners @ iChef Spinach and Persimmon Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette Recipe

To make the vinaigrette, shrest the unpeeled ginger on the large holes of a box grater. Wrap half the grated ginger in the corner of a clean kitchen towel. Wring the towel over a small bowl to extract the juice. Discard the juiced ginger. Repeat with the remaining ginger. You should have about 1/4 cup of juice.

In a medium bowl, whisk the vinegar, ginger juice, sugar, salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in both oils. Stir in the shallots. Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve; whisk the vinaigrette well before using. (The dressing can be prepared up to 1 day ahead.) 3. Remove the tough stems from the spinach. Fill a sink with cold water. Place the spinach leaves in the water and agitate well to loosen any sand and grit. In batches, lift the spinach out of the water (leaving the grit to sink to the bottom of the sink), and spin dry in a salad spinner. Wrap the spinach loosely in paper towels and place in a large plastic bag (a grocery bag is perfect). Refrigerate until ready to serve. (The spinach can be prepared up to 1 day ahead.) 4. Using a small sharp knife, cut the calyx fromt eh top of each persimmon. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the persimmons, moving the peeler vertically around the outside of each persimmon to remove the peel in one long strip. Cut the peeeled persimmons into 1/4-inch thick wedges. Place in a small bowl, cover tightly, and refrigerate until ready to serve. (The persimmons can be prepared up to 4 hours ahead.) 5. To serve, toss the persimmons with 2 tablespoons of the ginger vinaigrette. In a large bowl, toss the spinach with the remaining vinaigrette. Divide the spinach equally among chilled salad plates. Top with the persimmon wedges and sprinkle with sesame seeds. *Note: Use young, tender, flat leaf spinach for this salad. Not the crinkled packaged variety. The best spinach can usually be found at Asian markets. ... an excerpt of: "Thanksgiving 101" (Broadway Books) click on the cover to see it at Amazon.com