This salad recipe has flavors that speak eloquently of autumn—pears, walnuts, bitter greens, and cranberries. You can substitute other dried fruit if you like. It's a simple enough salad to serve for every day, yet dressed up enough to serve as a first course for company meals. It's a welcome addition to Thanksgiving and Christmas menus, as well. Double the recipe for a larger crowd. Contributed by Jill Nussinow, MS, RD, adapted from The Veggie Queen™: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment.*
Pear and Toasted Walnut Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette
This salad has flavors that speak eloquently of autumn —pears, walnuts, bitter greens and cranberries. You can substitute other dried fruit if you like.
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Servings: 4 to 6
Ingredients
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp walnut halves or pieces toasted
- 2 large ripe pears each cut into 8 to 12 slices
- 4 to 6 cups mixed baby greens preferably including radicchio, arugula, and/or cress, rinsed and dried
- freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine the water, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, mustard, half the cranberries, and the olive oil in a food processor. Process until smooth.
- Place the greens in a mixing bowl. Pour half the dressing over the greens and toss. Arrange pears over greens and sprinkle walnuts and cranberries over pears.
- Top with freshly ground pepper. Add remaining dressing if you like, or pass it around. Serve right away.
Vegan-ize any recipe!Grab our free vegan cheat sheet, packed with my favorite easy substitutions to make any recipe vegan.
- Here are more recipes for fruity compositions.
- Here are more recipes and menu ideas for a Vegetarian and Vegan-Friendly Thanksgiving.
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Gen says
This dressing is excellent. Instead of orange juice, I just used a medium whole navel orange. I also used some walnut oil instead of olive oil.
To make this a more hearty salad for a lunch, add grated carrot, grated beet, thinly sliced red onion, raisins, mint leaves, grated jicama ....