Salad recipes are an easy way to experiment with new flavors and textures in your cooking.
A great way to do this is by adding in fruit to your salad, and some of our favorite fruits to use are pears. For this salad, we took our Asian pears and paired them with spicy greens, roasted beets, walnuts and blue cheese. The sweetness of the beets along with the Asian pears’ almost apple-like crispness and juicy flavor is the perfect balance to the creamy, saltiness of the blue cheese and walnuts. To top it off we add a simple honey vinaigrette dressing.
This salad is both rich and refreshing, and is a great option for both lunch and dinner.
Fall Asian Pear Salad
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 2 large [url href=”http://www.thefruitcompany.com/gifts/category/fruit-only-gift-boxes/imperial-asian-pears” target=”_blank” title=”Asian Pears from The Fruit Company”]Asian Pear,[/url] cut into thin wedges
- 3 medium red beets, peeled and cut into wedges
- 1 small chioggias or golden beet, peeled and cut into thin wedges
- 2 cups greens, preferably mizuna or arugula
- 4-6 figs, stemmed and cut in half
- 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
- 1/2 cup blue cheese
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil + 1 tablespoon for beets
- 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- large pinch of sea salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Peel and cut red beets into wedges. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Toss with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes until tender. Remove and let fully cool.
- In the mean time, also put walnuts onto a separate baking sheet and toast for 5 minutes. Remove and let cool.
- Prepare [url href=”http://www.thefruitcompany.com/gifts/category/fruit-only-gift-boxes/pears” target=”_blank” title=”Pears from The Fruit Company”]pears[/url], chioggia or golden beets, and figs. Place in a large serving bowl. Add spicy greens, toasted walnuts, roasted beets, and blue cheese. Gently toss 1-2 times.
- In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, white wine vinegar and honey. Add salt and pepper, taste, and adjust. Pour half of the dressing over the salad. Toss together. At this point you might want to add more dressing, or reserve for the table.
- Serve immediately.
