Pan grilled pear salad with pecans and maple dressing

By Kitchen Butterfly • October 28, 2009 • 2 Comments

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Author Notes: A whole bag of cooking pears lying about....a delicious maple vinagrette from A&M.....what to do but combine these in a delicious, refresing yet wamring salad of caramelised pan fried pears with toasted pecans on a bed of greens? Whether in a lunch box or as a side, this salad is sure to please - Kitchen Butterfly

Serves 1

2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 (cooking) firm pear, sliced with skin on (quartering, remove core and slice)
10 pecans
1 cup/handful lettuce leaves, torn
1 spring onion, in rings
1/3 cup of chopped cucumber
1/3 cup chopped gouda/cheddar/edam cheese
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Salt, black pepper, chilli flakes

Heat up a griddle pan on medium heat
Mix maple syrup and vinegar together in a large bowl and add pear slices, turning about to make sure they are well coated. Remove pear slices, reserving remaining marinade for the dressing
Place pear slices in single layer on heated griddle pan and let one side brown - about a minute or two, flip to the other side and let that caramelise. After a minute, add the pecans, toss about and let cook for 30 seconds - a minute. Take off heat and transfer to a plate to cool.
When pears are cool, Make dressing - using left marinade, add some chilli flakes and a pinch of salt. If you like, add some black pepper
Assemble salad: Layer torn lettuce and sprinkle over cucumber and onions. Add cheese and parsley and then place pears and sprinkle pecans on. Enjoy
Note: You can use any sort of cheese you like. You can also substitute walnuts for the pecans