Author Notes
There's a million versions of this recipe, and of course it can be tweaked for whatever vegetables you have handy, or that your family likes. The goal for salads in our house is for most of us to like maybe 75% of the stuff in the salad. Feel free to swap out the cranberries and sunflower seeds with whatever you like: almonds, pumpkin seeds, whatever flies in your house.
We eat it when we feel hungry yet lazy, or when we need something to help us feel better after a month of Christmas cookie eating. —GinaP
Ingredients
- Salad
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5 ounces
baby spinach
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3
large pears, we used Anjou, cut into wedges about an inch thick
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1 cup
walnuts
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1
large carrot, grated
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1/4 cup
crumbled/broken up gorgonzola or blue cheese
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1 teaspoon
olive oil
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1 large handfuls
dried cranberries (optional)
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1/4 cup
sunflower seeds (optional)
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1
large honeycrisp apple (or another sweet, juicy variety) cut into chunks
- Honey Vinaigrette
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3 tablespoons
shallot, finely chopped
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1/4 cup
olive oil
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1/2 cup
honey
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1 teaspoon
kosher salt
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1/4 cup
apple cider vinegar
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juice from 1/2 a lemon
Directions
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Make the salad:
Heat your oven to 400°F. Whisk honey and olive oil together, then toss the mixture with pear wedges and walnuts. Spread it out on a single layer on a baking sheet, maybe two if needed.
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Roast 10-20 minutes (depending on pear thickness) till pears are tender (not soggy) and start to brown. Start checking every 8 minutes or so to flip pears and stir nuts.
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Put spinach in a large salad bowl. When pears and walnuts are done, dump in with spinach and toss. Spinach should soften a little from the heat
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When it's cooled a but, add remaining salad ingredients and toss. I add gorgonzola last to taste.
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Make the vinaigrette:
Whisk everything except oil in a small bowl. I add lemon last to taste (I like a lot)
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Continue whisking, and slowly drizzle in olive oil to combine
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Leftovers will keep refrigerated in airtight container for a few days. ENJOY!
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