Pear, Blue Cheese and Pomegranate Salad + Sweet and Salty Nuts

Every holiday menu needs a lively salad to freshen up an otherwise heavy assortment of dishes in various shades of brown and beige. Let this pear, blue cheese and pomegranate salad be your new go-to for festive occasions. It is exceedingly simple and allows a few beautiful ingredients to shine. Sweet, luscious pear contrasts with piquant blue cheese and zippy pomegranate to form a delicious trio.

To really elevate this salad to holiday menu worthiness, I top it with a generous handful of my sweet and salty nuts. It admittedly adds an extra (and optional) step to this recipe, and you could certainly use simply toasted pecans and/or walnuts. But, trust me — the extra step is worth it. You can prep the nuts in advance, reserve half a cup for this salad, and horde the rest of those addictive little morsels for yourself. Or, I guess, share with your friends and family if you are in a giving mood. They are shocking in their crave-inducing deliciousness.

Anyway, I hope you are relaxed as can be during this crazy week before Christmas. Stay sane and stay cozy (it is a balmy 20 degrees here as I write…oh what fun!).

xo Maggie

Pear, Blue Cheese + Pomegranate Salad

• Author: Maggie
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 10 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x

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Ingredients

For the salad:

• 4 oz bibb lettuce (approx. 1 head)
• 1 ripe, but still firm pear, cored and thinly sliced
• 3 oz. blue cheese, such as stilton or roquefort , crumbled
• 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/2 cup sweet + salty nuts, roughly chopped (see note)

For the vinaigrette:

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 tbsp finely minced or grated shallot (about 1/2 small shallot, peeled)

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Instructions

1. Make the vinaigrette: Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, maple syrup, mustard, salt and pepper until emulsified and creamy. Stir in minced shallot. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly. Tip: for a really creamy dressing, I like to use an immersion blender.
2. Assemble the salad: Toss butter lettuce with just enough vinaigrette to very lightly coat the greens. Transfer to a large, shallow serving bowl and top with pear slices (I like to arrange little clusters of pear slices atop the greens), crumbled blue cheese, pomegranate seeds and nuts. Lightly drizzle with a little more vinaigrette (you will have extra), sprinkle with flaky salt and freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!

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Notes

Instead of the sweet + salty nuts, feel free to use simply toasted pecans and/or walnuts if you are pressed for time. But please do toast them!