I’ve got another salad recipe that I know you’re going to love. This one has beautiful Bartlett pears, creamy St. Agur blue cheese, spiced candy pecans and a glorious honey-balsamic vinaigrette. It’s perfect on its own or as a side for your next roast chicken dinner.
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- To the lined baking sheet, add 1 cup pecans and cover with 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cayenne and 3 generous pinches of salt. Toss to evenly coat the pecans, then spread out evenly on the sheet. Without being fussy, make sure there's a bit of space between each. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until dark brown and crunchy. Keep a close eye in the last few minutes to make sure they don’t burn!
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl add 1 tbsp balsamic, 1 tbsp honey and 1 tsp dijon. Whisk until well combined, then continue whisking while slowly drizzling in 1/4 cup olive oil until emulsified. Add 1-2 tbsp water and whisk to loosen it up, as needed. Season with a pinch of salt, then taste and adjust until it's the perfect balance of salty and sweet.
- Next, dice 1 pear and crumble 100g blue cheese into dime-sized pieces. When the pecans are roasted, remove from the oven and sprinkle with salt while they're still warm.
- To serve, add 1/2 the dressing to the bottom of a large bowl or serving platter and top with 5 cups arugula. Toss to evenly coat, then top with diced pear and roasted pecans and blue cheese. Drizzle remaining dressing overtop and serve immediately.
Notes
Toss the diced pear pieces in a bit of lemon juice to prevent browning before serving.