Pomegranate Salsa

This pomegranate salsa recipe is bursting with sweet-and-spicy flavor. It’s a fun holiday appetizer or special wintertime snack. Serve it on its own with tortilla chips, or with whipped goat cheese for a creamy base that goes well with crostini or toasted pita. Recipe yields 8 appetizer servings.

Ingreadient:

• 2 cups pomegranate arils (about 2 pomegranate’s worth)
• ⅓ cup finely chopped red onion
• ¼ cup finely chopped cilantro
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped (use a smaller jalapeño for less heat, or leave in some seeds for more heat)  
• ½ teaspoon lime zest
• 2 tablespoons lime juice 
• ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
• 4 to 5 ounces goat cheese
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 small-to-medium garlic clove
• ⅛ teaspoon fine salt

Direction

1. To prepare the salsa, combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and gently stir until combined. Taste, and add a little more salt if desired. 
2. To prepare the optional whipped goat cheese, combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture is absolutely smooth and creamy, which could take a couple of minutes, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. 
3. To serve, use the salsa as-is, or spread the whipped goat cheese into the base of a wide, shallow bowl. Spoon all of the salsa around the perimeter of the bowl. Serve promptly. Leftovers will keep for up to 5 days (the whipped goat cheese will need to warm back to room temperature to spread easily).