pear arugula salad

This Pear Salad is the perfect side for a fall gathering or the holiday table. Juicy ripe pears, arugula, spiced nuts, pomegranate seeds, dried currants and gorgonzola are all tossed in a flavorful Vanilla Fig Dressing to create the most delicious balance of flavors.

Pear Gorgonzola Salad with Fig Dressing

pumpkin

maple syrup

salt

cinnamon

cumin

cayenne

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

fig jam

vanilla

pepper

red onion, thinly sliced

pears- not overly ripe, sliced

baby arugula

pomegranate seeds

gorgonzola cheese

dried currants (or sub craisins

Preheat oven to 350F ( A toaster oven works here too)

Make the spiced Nuts

In a small bowl, toss the nuts/seeds with the maple syrup, enough to coat well, and mix in the salt and spices. Spread out on a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake 10-15 minutes, stirring halfway through. You want to get them toasted and golden. Remove from heat, and immediatly &#8220;fluff&#8221; with a fork. Let them cool completely. You can do this ahead- taking care not to eat them all before making the salad. You&#8217;ll need at least 1/2 cup for the salad.

Make the dressing

 Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl

Make the salad: 

In a large bowl (not your serving bowl) toss arugula,  red onion, 1/2 cup spiced nuts, pomegranate seeds, currants and gorgonzola cheese lightly with the dressing until perfectly coated. Taste, season with salt and pepper if you like.

Then add the pears, carefully tossing so they don&#8217;t break.

Place the salad in the serving bowl and garnish with more spiced nuts, gorgonzola and pomegranate if you like.

I haven"t made this salad, but oh my it looks so delicous!  I am not able to do much after spending 160 days in the hospital, but I so look forward to the day I am able to make this salad.  I love your web site.

Better than 5 stars as we have garden grown brown turkey figs (just mashed instead of the jam), arugula,  and seckel pears to use up.  Wowsa!  The hubs said I could make money with this salad.  I'll be sure to give you credit. :-)  It will definitely appear on our table every fall (and a few more times until the figs and pears are gone.)  We're a no-sugar house so the nuts were just toasted and we didn't use the currants either.  Delish!  Thank you.

Awesome recipe. I haven’t made this yet, but my 5 star review is simply because I know my family will devour this and fight over who gets to kick the bowl! 
PS: I am seriously considering making the maple-spiced pumpkin/pecan mix to give as holiday gifts with a recipe card attached for the arugula pear salad. 
Also if I was going to eat them without the salad (which is likely going to happen very soon, I might add a 1/4 tsp cayenne to the maple mix to heat things up just a tad!)

Perfect combination of flavors and textures! I can't wait to eat it again tomorrow with some grilled chicken (that will also have vanilla fig dressing on it).

Came out wonderfully. It was a whole bunch of distinct flavors punching and playing together nicely. Each forkful was a unique bite, and the colors were lovely too.

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Pear Gorgonzola Salad with Fig Dres...

The most viewed pear arugula salad recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine