Food blog seventeen - Duck with pomegranate salad

Despite my desire to eat less sugar and wheat-based foods I haven't changed my diet radically. I haven't become vegan as I like fish. And ironically, now, trout-farmed fish and farmed-salmon may well be better for us. Sea-based fish, so full of plastic themselves, are naturally passing micro-plastics on to us. Recent research has proof of this after analysing the digested food contents (to put it politely) from a small sample of willing human subjects.
Farmed fish may make the headlines for the right reasons this time.

I'm enjoying a vegetarian diet for a few weeks, just to keep away from meats and their fat, but now the colder weather is upon us I will be looking forward to poultry or game, perhaps for Sunday lunch.

We have enjoyed vegan meals since Robbie opened a new plant-based restaurant near us. I love his pomegranate salads. So what better for someone like me, with my tastes for chicken, turkey, duck and  pomegranate than 'duck with pomegranate salad'?

It is tasty and full of good lean meats.

Ingredients
5 finely diced sticks of celery
1 finely chopped medium red onion
6 crushed garlic cloves
1 small piece of ginger - peeled and thinly chopped
Juice and grated zest of 1 medium orange
2 tbsp olive oil
4 duck legs
1 large pomegranate
4 tspn sumac 


Dressing
A further 2 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon


Method
1 It is much easier to put the celery, onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor as all need to be finely chopped. When done place all in the bottom of a shallow casserole dish. Add the ornge juice and zest plus a tbsp or two of the olive oil. Mix it in the casserole dish. Turn on the oven to 180 C or 160C fan/ gas mark 4.
2 Season the duck legs well with sumac then place on the bed of celery mix.
3 Cook for 11/2 hours or until the skin peels easily from the duck legs.
4 Slice the pomegranate in half and squeeze out the contents into a waiting bowl.
5 When cooked remove the duck legs and shred the meat after it has cooled sufficiently. 
6 Drain the duck fat from the vegetables and add them to the shredded pieces. Stir all the ingredients and serve on a large platter or shallow dish. Make the dressing, drizzle it over the duck on its bed of salad and top it all with pomegranate.
7 Serve and enjoy while the duck is still warm.

I don't always add as much onion, garlic or ginger as suggested here and sumac is a lovely tangy, lemony paste. I buy it dried from a Lebanese restaurant. It is a deep red and adds colour to the salad.