I can’t believe the great weather we have been having. It has extended the outdoor growing season, and with our school-grown greens, we have been able to prepare our most recent salad in the Whaler Café. Even when the weather turns bad, we can use our new hydroponics lab, which will allow us to grow our own produce all year round. Along with understanding how to make salads from harvesting to the plate, my students are also beginning to understand flavors and how they work together. As you can imagine the bleu cheese wasn’t a big hit at first but when we balanced it with a pecan or the pomegranate, they enjoyed the combined flavors.

MESCLUN GREEN SALAD WITH POMEGRANATE VINAIGRETTE

Serves 4

For the vinaigrette:

1 cup pomegranate juice

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme

3 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped

1 tablespoon Parsley, finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly. It is best if you can let this sit for a few hours for the flavors to marry. This can be made a few days in advance.

For the salad:

6 ounces mesclun greens

1 cup pomegranate seeds

1 cup bleu cheese, loosely crumbled

1/2 cup candied pecans

Place mesclun greens into a large bowl and add ¾ cup of the pomegranate seeds, ¾ cup of the bleu cheese and ¼ cup of the candied pecans. Add the desired amount of vinaigrette. (Note: You will not need all of it for this salad.) Gently toss the greens until they are lightly coated with the vinaigrette and the other ingredients are mixed in. Portion the salad on to four chilled salad plates. Garnish with remaining pomegranate seeds, cheese and nuts. Serve immediately.

“From the Whaler Cafe” presents recipes used in the culinary arts program at New London High School, which is helmed by chef instructor Thomas Johnson. Johnson welcomes reader questions at JohnsonT@newlondon.org.