Pear Walnut Salad with Gorgonzola

Stylish festive and so so beautiful, this salad is just as delicious as it looks. This pear and walnut salad is the kind of salad you make to impress people, it looks so cheffy, professional and fancy, but in all honesty its one salad thats so easy to put together. Make this salad all winter long, during the holidays to impress friends and family and get all the compliments you deserve.

The mustard-honey vinaigrette along with crisp pears, toasty walnuts, sweet-tart pomegranate arils, salty creamy gorgonzola all add an incredible delicious complexity to this salad. The spiced mustard honey vinaigrette elevates the flavor of each of these ingredients and ties the whole thing together. You just have to make this salad. I made this salad couple of times during the holidays and it was a hit both times, unfortunately I didn’t have the time during this busy time to post and share the recipe with you guys. I feel this salad is just as good all winter long when you want your food to have some uplifting color.

Ingredients for the Salad

• Greens: Use one or combination of any greens you have and like: baby spinach, arugula, baby kale, frisée or spring mix. The base of the salad is totally up to you!
• Nuts: Walnut are hearty, buttery + rich in omega3 fatty acid making it an excellent choice to pair in this salad. Alternatively pecans, pumpkin seeds work well too. Just dry toast them in a skillet for a few minutes and give them a rough chop before tossing them on the salad.
• Cheese: Gorgonzola is classic cheese to pair with pears(no pun intended). Its creamy, earthy and robust to match hearty fruits like pears and apple. Blue cheese of other sorts are also good in this salad. If blue cheese is not your thing choose feta or sharp cheddar for a comparable flavor.
• Pears: I like crisp Bosc, Bartlett and Red pear for this recipe. They’re in season this time of the year.
• Pomegranate Arils: Crunchy, sweet tart, these little ruby toned seeds brighten and make this salad so festive, which is also perfect all winter long. Bonus: pomegranates are nutrient little bombs.
• Olive Oil: Always perfect in vinaigrettes.
• Acids: Apple Cider Vinegar and little lemon juice add a perfect tang to the recipe. You can also swap ACV for balsamic.
• Dijon Mustard: Help emulsify and balances the sweetness of the preserve used in the dressing.
• Preserve: adds a little sweetness and body to the dressing without being overly sweet. Choose light fruit preserve you like. My favorite is fig!
• Honey: I prefer this recipe with honey, for vegan options you can swap the honey for agave or maple syrup if you’d like.
• Seasonings: kept it simple and basic with sea salt, chili flakes and black pepper, allowing other ingredients to shine.