Sunday, December 12, 2010

Pear Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

Making your own salad dressing is really quite simple and takes a salad from good to delicious! So often I rely on bottled salad dressing, but the extra 5 minutes it takes to make is really worth it- that is if you have an extra 5 minutes on that given day! I loved how the slight sweetness of the maple came through and also gave it a more seasonal flavor as maple really makes me think of the fall and winter. It was great on the pear salad, but I also used the leftovers through out the week on a salad with apples, which was equally delicious.

 Pear Salad with Maple Vinaigrette (from Taste of South magazine)
Ingredients:
For Salad:
  • Bibb lettuce (or any kind you prefer)
  • Pear
  • Dried cranberries
  • Blue cheese
  • Toasted walnuts
  For Dressing: 
  •  1/4 cup  maple syrup  
  •  1/4 cup  olive oil
  •  3 tablespoons  balsamic vinegar
  •  1 tablespoon  Dijon-style mustard
  •  1/4 teaspoon  ground black pepper
  •  1/8 teaspoon salt 
 Directions:
  1. Place handful or 2 of lettuce on each plate and top with pear, blue cheese, dried cranberries, and walnuts.
  2. Combine all dressing ingredients together in a bowl and drizzle on top of salad.  

6 comments:

  1. I can't wait to make this! I LOVE pears!Yummy!!!

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  2. I absolutely love pears in my salads! But I never think to add them in at home and only get them when I'm at a restaurant. The pear/blue cheese combo is heavenly :)

    Sues

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  3. I love the looks of that dressing! One of my favourite salads is maple glazed salmon on top of greens with balsamic vinegar. Balsamic and maple are such a great flavour combo :)

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  4. Hi! Found your blog through HEAB's...I had to find out who made that Banana Bread! Great looking salad :)

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  5. This is my new favorite fruit salad.

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  6. HEAB sent me... and this looks incredible... i have all the ingredients and it will be my dinner tomorrow night!

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