Pear and Blue Cheese Salad with Candied Walnuts
I love a good salad. Which is kind of ironic really as when most people think of salad they think of lettuce. And let’s be honest, could there be anything more boring than lettuce? Yes, it’s nutritionally sound, yes, it is a great base for many salads and yes, if you believe all the weight loss people who bang on about how eating 4 tonne of it a day, will ensure you’ll lose 34335kg by Friday, you might want to indulge on masse. But for me it’s boring. Plain and simple.
To me a salad is a thing of beauty. It has layers and textures. It’s full of colour and flavour. It’s a mixture of sweet and savoury. It can be served as a side to any meal or as the masterpiece. It can be a few simple ingredients, or lots of bits and bobs that together create a taste sensation that have you diving in for more.
When I have guests over for dinner, you will always find a salad on my table. Often two. The reason for this is simple. A salad is something that can be prepared earlier in the day, so I can spend more time creating memories, rather than chained to the kitchen bench. The other (main) reason, is that for me, salads are where my creativity shines. I can’t draw, or sew, or paint. I have no idea about fashion. I have no interest in interior design. To be honest, I don’t really care about any of these things, but when it comes to a salad my inner artist comes out and its game one!
My friends have told me my salads are legendary. I am blessed to have them argue over who was served the best salad when they came for dinner. What I have never told any of them, is that most salads are built purely on what I have in the cupboard at the time. Yes, there is thought put into them, but I don’t ever remember a time when I’ve made a special trip to the shops just for the sake of a salad.
This salad is one of my favs. It might be one of those salads you do have to make a special trip to the shops for if you don’t have these ingredients floating about in the cupboard. But believe me it will be worth it.
I have served this as a side to wild venison back straps and a good piece of steak. I have also served it as a main by adding a soft boiled egg and some cured meat. Either way, it’ll be delish. If you want leftovers, best you double the recipe. Enjoy!
Serves 4-6 as a side
2 handfuls of greens
1 pear – skin on, cored and thinly sliced into wedge
60gm blue cheese
¾ c candied walnuts
¼ c goji berries
¼ – ½ c caramelised red onion
Candied nuts
Place a fry pan over medium heat. When warm, add 1c walnut pieces, ¼ c white sugar and 1T butter. Leave on medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved and the nuts are covered in caramel. This will take about 5mins.
Pour onto a piece of baking paper and spread out so they can cool and for the caramel to harden. Try really hard not to eat them all at this stage. If you are like me, make twice as many so there are plenty to snack on while you prepare the salad.
Caramelised Red Onion
Peel and cut 1 large (or 2 smaller) red onions in half. Thinly slice.
Heat a non-stick fry pan over low-medium heat. Add a good dollop of oil and once warmed add the sliced red onion.
Cook over low-medium heat, stirring a couple of times, for approx. 10mins until starting to colour. Add ¼ c cold water and stir onions to disperse water. Cook for further 7-10mins until water has evaporated.
Continue cooking onions for a further 10mins, stirring frequently, until soft. Remove from heat and cool.
To put the salad together….
Place the greens onto the platter (or bowl) that you will be serving the salad on. Evenly spread over the thinly sliced pear. Crumble up the cheese into small bite sized pieces and sprinkle over the pear. Add the goji berries and caramelised onions.
The nuts will have likely hardened together, so break into whatever size you fancy and finish the salad with a good covering of these.
Eat!
Notes on Ingredients
I used baby cos lettuce, but any salad greens will do. I like baby cos because the leaves are a bit like spoons and hold the ingredients well. There is nothing worse than all the good bits of the salad falling to the bottom of the platter.
Goji berries. I use these for colour, texture and their tartness. Don’t feel you need to. Dried cranberries will work just as well. They will add colour and some tartness to cut through the blue cheese.
Caramelised onions – these aren’t true caramelised onions as are actually just slow cooked onions. I prefer these myself as I like the sweetness of them. I often have these in the fridge as I find them so handy to add flavour to lots of different things over the week. Add as many or as little as you like to the salad. I really like these hence you will see lots of them in my salad.
I don’t use a dressing on this salad as there is enough going on and enough moisture that I personally don’t think you need it. If you want to add a dressing, feel free. I’d suggest something a bit creamy like mayo or aioli. Or even a thin version of a guacamole would work really well.
Now’s the time to go get your inner artist on. Don’t get too caught up on quantities and having the exact ingredients. Add more blue cheese if you want. Leave off the onions if you can’t be bothered making them. Use dried apricots or dates or figs if that’s what you have. Throw over cashews or almonds, instead of the fancy pancy candied walnuts. Yes, it will look and taste different. But who really cares? Art is totally subjective and this salad is your masterpiece. So go get creating 😊