Salad with Cranberry, Pear, Walnuts & Gorgonzola

Fresh salad with Cranberries, sliced ripe pear, candied walnuts, gorgonzola cheese with a pear vinaigrette is perfect for the holiday table or anytime.

Salad with Cranberry, Pear, Walnuts & Gorgonzola

By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime

I think it is just unbelievable that it is time once again for #CranberryWeek. It started actually yesterday but I have been overrun with putting up recipes this week. But I will be putting up three cranberry recipes, and my first offering is for Salad with Cranberry, Pear, Walnuts and Gorgonzola.

I am sure you have seen these type of recipes before and are wondering why this one should make a difference? I mean, I would be asking that question.

I have included a very simple way to candy the nuts so you don’t have to buy those. It is a simple enough operation heating them in the nonstick skillet. You just have to keep stirring and be ready for the sugar to melt and liquify and pour the nuts out onto nonstick foil or silpat at that moment, and let them cool to set up. I bet you’ll have to do this twice, not because you ruined it, but because they are so delicious they probably won’t make it to the salad.

And the other thing for this recipe (and you’ll notice this if you have followed me for awhile) is that I do very well at making my own salad dressings from scratch. I get kind of annoyed if I see a salad recipe that calls for dressing bought at the market. I don’t need a recipe for that.

This vinaigrette has the flavors of pear and cranberry whizzed up in it. And it is a little bit lower fat because the ratio of alternate liquids to oil is no longer 50:50 but more like 66:33 so that is a third less oil. I did use sugar in it but if you want to make this with a sugar sub for a low cal or low sugar diet it will work just fine. I’ll probably be doing just that in January when the big diet days roll around.

I used a box cracker in this because I usually have those (I like eating them with cambozola cheese and sometimes brie)- and they go very well with wine. But they also have bits of cranberry in them, which is nice. I linked to the product in the recipe box if you need to find them online.

Be sure to look at my other recipe for today-Which is for Garlic Pull-Apart Bread with the #BreadBakers blogging group. Those who follow me on FaceBook (yes, you can actually do that, you know) probably already know about me getting my Gingered Pear pie together only to discover my baking element was out. Luckily I remembered I have an electric turkey roaster in the basement. *SAVE*

But since the oven is still out, I had to do the bread in the turkey roaster as well. And this is a great thing for you, dear reader, because sooner or later bad news will strike your own kitchen at a very unfortunate time (like Thanksgiving or Christmas) and you might wonder how to get that food cooked.

Or maybe you are just one or two ovens short (yes, I only have one…) or maybe you are even on a camping trip somewhere and want to make some bread- well, if you can plug in the roaster, you can do this.

And surprise surprise, tomorrow I will be baking a Cranberry Bundt cake in (you guessed it!) that same turkey roaster. So it goes to show you can do it all with that handy little appliance. And here I thought it would be stored away for the rest of my life (I had only used it once before today).

But join me each day and make sure you pin these roaster recipes in case you ever need them. Or maybe just want them. You can actually make this stuff in your oven too.

And tomorrow, lest I escape the post without mentioning it- I will be sharing my recipe for jellied cranberry sauce- made at home—(Without the help of a turkey roaster! Imagine that!) 😉

Cya’

~Sue

Salad with Cranberry, Pear, Walnuts & Gorgonzola

Servings: 4
Time: 30mins
Difficulty: Moderate
Print

Salad:

4-6 cups fresh baby salad greens
1/2 cup dried cranberries (craisins)
1 firm ripe red pear, cored and thinly sliced
4 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese
Candied Walnuts (recipe follows)
Pear Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
RainCoast crackers with hazelnuts and cranberries (optional)

Candied Walnuts:

1 cup shelled walnuts
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon butter

Pear Vinaigrette (makes one pint):

1 small ripe pear (about 7 ounces), peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 cup cranberry juice cocktail
1/2 cup berry vinegar or red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:

To prepare candied walnuts, place walnuts, butter and sugar in a small nonstick skiller and stir constantly over low heat until sugar liquifies; immediately turn out of pan onto nonstick foil or silpat in a single layer and allow to cool. Break apart if needed and store in an airtight container until required (can make ahead).
To prepare vinaigrette, place ripe pear chunks in a blender with the cranberry juice, vinegar, salt pepper and sugar and liquify.
Add the oil in a thin stream through the chute until emulsified. Refrigerate until needed (can make ahead) and shake before serving.
Divide salad greens among plates and toss with desired amount of dressing (there will be leftover dressing).
Top greens with sliced pears, candied walnuts, crumbled cheese and craisins.

From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com