Mixed Greens with Pomegranate-Cumin Dressing and Grilled Lamb Sausage

  

    
We all have our exotic sides, or at least we wish we did.  Travel has taken me to exotic locals such as Morocco and Bali.  Cooking helps me reconnect with the passions I feel there.  They say the sense of smell and taste are some of our strongest.  Certainly, cumin and lamb inspires that for me, whether its the grilling smoke wafting over the Dajeema El Fna, Marrakech's center market square, or the spice and meat sellers throughout the medina of Fez and elsewhere.  Pomegranate also has that inspiration for me, bringing to mind Lebanese chicken and yogurt with pomegranate seed recipes.  And so, when I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit this month I thought immediately of making it.  The pomegranate cumin dressing is a two-fer, and combined with a grilled lamb sausage is positively transporting.  Figs and feta cheese along with red onion add to the multiple layers of bliss in this recipe.  Enjoy.  Serves 2.
    
Ingredients:
1 cup pomegranate juice
7 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar (white if available)
1 tbsp ground cumin
4 tbsp minced shallots
2 links fresh lamb sausage
1 red onion, sliced 
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
4 fresh figs, quartered
mixed greens for two
     
Description:
In a small sauce pan over medium high heat boil down the pomegranate juice to 2 tbsp.  Allow to cool.  Whisk together with the olive oil, vinegar and cumin.  Brush the sausage and red onion with some of the dressing and grill in a grill pan over medium heat, approximately 10 minutes for the onions and perhaps 15 minutes for the sausage.  Add the shallots to the dressing and rewhisk.  Add the onions and figs to the mixed greens and toss with an amount of dressing to taste.  Slice the cooked sausage into 1" pieces.  Serve the greens mixture and top with with the sausage pieces and feta.