In this pear walnut salad, slice pear, shallots, blue cheese and walnuts top leafy romaine and is drizzled with the most amazing pear vinaigrette!

Didn’t I just posted a salad that had sliced pears in it?

In my defense, that salad only triggered this nasty chain reaction to make more salads, and more salads with pears, and pear salads drizzled with a delicious pear vinaigrette. Overkill? I think not!

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Someone please tell me that I’m not the only one who dreams about making a pear salad dressing? Can I be? Hello?

Have you ever had a pear vinaigrette? I haven’t… well, until this afternoon. While some devilish brownies baked in the oven, it only felt right to balance my chocolate lunch dessert out with a little salad. And since pears are all over the place these days, I picked a few up, nabbed some pear vinegar and juice, then (fingers crossed) sought out to make me a pear vinaigrette. Before I show you the goods, I first want to cover a few “salad basics”.

There are three major things that make up a good salad.

1. Good lettuce. I’m talkin’ bout romaine, spinach or arugula etc… Iceberg is aiiight, but to me it tastes.like.nothing.

2. Toasted nuts or seeds. Throw your favorite nuts in a dry pan and toast until they’re fragrant… and by fragrant I don’t mean burnt. mmm k?

3. Cheese. Really any will do, like feta, brie, any form of blue cheese, oh and Parmesan. Just to name a few I’m really not picky. It cheese… ya know?

To Make This Pear Walnut Salad You Will Need:

for the vinaigrette:

  • pear juice
  • pear infused vinegar
  • olive oil
  • fresh thyme leaves 
  • kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper

for the salad:

  • baby romaine lettuce leaves
  • red pear
  • shallot
  • toasted walnuts
  • blue cheese
  • coarse sea salt, to taste

I saved you the trouble by not posting the whole rigmarole of slicing a pear, toasting walnuts. However, you can get the gist by reading this post.

Then in a medium bowl add 3 tablespoons of pear juice.

Next add 1 tablespoon pear vinegar.

Then while whisking like a crazy person, slowly stream in2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Yes!

Next, add the leaves of a few sprigs of thyme and then add in some freshly ground black pepper. Whisk some more.

Finally, it’s ready to serve.

pear walnut salad l simplyscratch.com

I quickly poured it over top my salad of baby romaine, sliced shallots, toasted walnuts, pear slices, blue cheese and then delicately sprinkled with coarse sea salt. I died.

pear walnut salad l simplyscratch.com

And it looked like this. Ohhhh… this pear walnut salad was good, and it wasn’t because I skipped breakfast, had two cups of coffee, made brownies and had some severe-low-sugar-mixed-with-too-much-coffee “shakes”. I promise, because I made it the next day and it was equally just as awesome.

Enjoy! And if you give this Pear Walnut Salad recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!

pear walnut salad l simplyscratch.com

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Yield: 2 servings

Pear Walnut Salad with Pear Vinaigrette

In this pear walnut salad, slice pear, shallots, blue cheese and walnuts top leafy romaine and is drizzled with the most amazing pear vinaigrette!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

FOR THE VINAIGRETTE:

  • 3 tablespoons pear juice
  • 1 tablespoons pear infused vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 sprigs thyme, leaves removed (discard stem)
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE SALAD:

  • 5 ounces romaine lettuce leaves
  • 1/2 red pear, cored and thinly sliced
  • 1 medium shallot, sliced thin
  • 2 tablespoons toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
  • 2 tablespoons blue cheese
  • coarse sea salt, to taste

Instructions 

  • In a medium bowl add the pear juice and vinegar.
  • While whisking, slowly stream in the olive oil.
  • Scrape the leaves off of two sprigs of thyme and add in the black pepper. Whisk to combine
  • Assemble romaine leaves and top with sliced pear, shallot, toasted walnuts, blue cheese and season with sea salt to taste. Drizzle with desired amount of the pear vinaigrette and enjoy!
Serving: 1g, Calories: 274kcal, Carbohydrates: 16g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 12g, Cholesterol: 5mg, Sodium: 108mg, Potassium: 371mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 6288IU, Vitamin C: 15mg, Calcium: 87mg, Iron: 2mg
Author: Laurie McNamara
Course: Salads
Cuisine: American