Pear Salad with Walnuts and Blue Cheese in a Cranberry-Lemon Vinaigrette

A colorful and playful combination of fresh pears, salty blue cheese and crunchy toasted walnuts, topped with a “chewy” vinaigrette of sweet cranberries and tangy lemon. 

Can you tell I'm totally stoked for fall produce? Every day, I've been loading my cart with all things fall - pears, winter squash and other fruits and veggies that I tend to shun in the summer (but, let's face it, most of us can get otherwise seasonal produce YEAR-ROUND). It's just that I don't feel like eating butternut squash in July. And pears seems out of place in August. I'm still relishing summer corn, berries and melon.

But not in September! Bring on the pears. And - also bring on the classic fall pairing of pears (or apples), nuts and blue cheese. There's a reason they're often combined, and that's because it's GOOD. They play very well together in that sandbox called salad. And in THIS salad, I added more fall inspo by creating a cranberry vinaigrette to drizzle over the top. The dressing is chunky, and the berries add a wonderful sweet-tart note to the salty cheese, sweet pears and, well, nutty walnuts!

I hope you love it.

Pear Salad with Walnuts and Blue Cheese in a Cranberry-Lemon Vinaigrette

For the Cranberry-Lemon Vinaigrette:
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1 lemon, juice and zest
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salad:
6 ounces mixed baby greens or a combination of baby greens and spinach
2 ripe Bosc or Bartlett Pears, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup walnuts, halves and pieces, toasted (toast in a dry skillet over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden brown and aromatic, shaking the pan frequently)
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

To make the vinaigrette, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cranberries, red wine vinegar, remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, honey, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest. Stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place the mixed greens on individual salad plates and top with the pears, toasted walnuts, and blue cheese. Drizzle the vinaigrette over top and serve.

Serves 4