Hi, Jody! I think that will be yummy, too! I do truly adore the juicy little pops or pomegranate arils, but I think dried cranberries will also taste nice with the other flavors going on in this salad. Let me know how that goes for you! And Happy Holidays!! ~Shelley

Oh, Emily – thank you for the wonderful feedback! And also for the great tips that other readers might find helpful, too. Raspberries are a terrific suggestion for those who might not like pomegranates … or for those times, just before holidays, when the grocery store has sadly sold out of them! I really appreciate that you took the time for such a lovely comment. And I hope you and your family have a fabulous holiday!! 😀 ~Shelley

Hi, Vanessa! As I mention in the post, this Christmas Salad can definitely be made an hour or so ahead of time. But all the yummy toppings can really weigh down the salad greens if you add them too far ahead, and the arils will start to turn the goat cheese pink after a couple of hours. If you like make-ahead recipes (I sure do!), then the best bet is to make the dressing, prep the oranges, and have all of the components measured and ready. You can do this up to a day ahead, storing the greens, vinaigrette, oranges and goat cheese in separate, covered containers in the refrigerator. Then, you can quickly put the salad together up to about an hour before serving. I recommend that you wait to pour on the salad dressing until the last minute (or allow guests to dress their own). Hope that helps! ~Shelley

Hi, Suzanne! I don’t have any other specific recipes on my site that use it, as of right now. But, it’s a terrific dressing on lots of other salads you might throw together – especially ones with more light, delicate flavors. Think of salads with berries or citrus that don’t want to be strong-armed by the dressing. Hope that helps! 😀 ~Shelley

Hi, Pamela! You can read/see more about this at my post on How to Open a Pomegranate, but basically: Pomegranate arils are the little red, juicy bits inside a pomegranate than enclose the pomegranate’s tiny seeds. Arils are actually sometimes (erroneously) referred to as “pomegranate seeds”, but technically, the seeds are encased inside the membranes of the aril. If you look at the photos in my article above, you can see the pretty red, gem-like dots sprinkled across the salad. And in the photo of ingredients, you can see the arils still inside a cut-open pomegranate. Pomegranate arils are delightfully sweet-tart and juicy! While you can buy a whole pomegranate and remove the arils (as I describe in the “How to Open a Pomegranate” article I mentioned above, to save time, I often just grab a container of arils (like these from Pom Wonderful) in my grocery store’s produce section. Hope that helps … and I hope you adore this Christmas Salad as much as my family does! I make it year after year, and it’s always such a huge hit! 😀 ~Shelley