Received a lovely box of beautiful pears for Christmas! Made a delicious salad to complement our dinner. Omitted the champagne vinegar, walnut oil and blue cheese. Still, it was good.
For the dressing:
1/4 cup Champagne Vinegar (used TJ's white balsamic which is fine)
1 Tb Dijon
1 Tb honey
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
3/4 cup walnut oil (used canola- a little heavier but innocuous)
Blend using whatever method you prefer. I like a detachable whisk and whir it up real quick in a pint or measuring glass then cover with Press 'n' Seal wrap. You could put it in a jar, shake and save for later. It will need shaking again.
For the salad:
1 head of butter or other lettuce, washed and dried (a bag of mixed greens heavy on spinach is good)
2 Ripe pears, peeled, cored and sliced thin. (I left the peels on)
2/3 cup blue cheese (omit unless you are really hungry or this salad is not part of a large meal)
2/3 cup candied nuts or toasted walnuts (Trader Joe's sells 5 oz. packages of "Very Crunchy, Lightly Sweetened" candied pecans)
Arrange salad on plates or compose in a large bowl.
Offer guests to apply their own dressing or just toss it in the bowl.
Place fans of pear slices on lettuce. Crumble blue cheese evenly on top.
Drizzle the dressing generously over the salad. Sprinkle with nuts and serve at once.
Sorry no pics for this one- but you get the idea. It was Christmas rush! The dressing a versatile for any salad. Try using goat cheese crumbles/adding lemon zest to brighten it up. Dried cranberries or fresh strawberries would be good, too!
