Pomegranate Isn't Just for Dessert: Five Reasons It Belongs in Your Autumn Salad, From Spinach and Apple to Persimmon and Mozzarella

In Gevgelija and Valandovo, pomegranate in autumn isn't exotic, it's part of the market. For most of us, though, it ends up like this: seeded into a bowl for dessert, or forgotten in the fruit bowl until the skin hardens. Yet the pomegranate does the most work where we look for it least - in a savoury salad.

First the numbers. The seeds contain fibre, vitamin C and polyphenols such as anthocyanins, which give them their red colour. The fruit is full of water and moderate in calories, around 83 kilocalories per 100 grams of seeds. So there's no reason to hold back.

Five reasons pomegranate should end up in your salad:

1. Texture. The seeds burst easily between your teeth and add a crunch no vegetable salad has on its own. 2. Balance. The sweet-sour taste tames salty and strong ingredients - cheese, roasted vegetables, walnuts. 3. Season. It goes with everything on the market in autumn: pumpkin, sweet potato, mushrooms, beetroot, red cabbage, spinach, pear, apple and walnuts. 4. Looks. Red seeds on green leaves or roasted vegetables make an ordinary salad look like it came from a restaurant. 5. Dressing. Pomegranate juice, olive oil, vinegar or lemon and salt are enough for a dressing that needs nothing from the shop.

Combinations worth trying, all easy and quick: spinach, pomegranate and apple in 15 minutes; bulgur with pomegranate and chickpeas in 25 minutes; persimmon, mozzarella and pomegranate; roasted pumpkin with pomegranate and rocket; chickpeas, pomegranate and roasted pepper; lamb's lettuce with chestnuts, pear and pomegranate; mandarins, mozzarella and pomegranate; and even chicken with pomegranate, ready in 15 minutes.

The seeding trick that saves your kitchen from red stains is as old as the pomegranate itself: cut it in half, hold it seeds-down over a deep bowl and tap the skin with a wooden spoon. The seeds fall out on their own, without the white membranes that taste bitter.