Pear Salad with Walnuts
Description: This fresh green salad with pears, walnuts, dates and blue cheese is a fresh option for your holiday table! It's a great side salad for fall dinners, too. Recipe yields 4 side salads.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Pinch of salt
- Several twists of freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup chopped raw walnuts
- 5 to 6 ounces red leaf lettuce, torn into small pieces (about 5 to 6 cups), or spring mix
- 7 Medjool dates, pitted and sliced thin
- 2 Bosc* or Bartlett pears, unpeeled and sliced into ¼-inch thick pieces
- ⅓ cup crumbled blue cheese or goat cheese (Jennifer used Roquefort; I used a more generic blue cheese option from Whole Foods but I think Gorgonzola would work well, too)
Instructions
- To make the dressing: In a small bowl, combine all of the dressing ingredients and whisk to combine. Taste, and adjust if necessary—I added some more mustard and another pinch of salt.
- To make the salad: First, toast the walnuts in a medium skillet over medium heat until fragrant, stirring often, about 4 to 5 minutes. Set aside.
- In a medium serving bowl, combine the greens, dates, pears and toasted walnuts. When you’re ready to serve, drizzle in some dressing (you won’t need all of it) and toss until the greens are lightly coated, adding more if necessary. Serve in individual bowls with blue cheese sprinkled on top.