2013 – Gluten Free Living

This fabulous gluten free salad is absolutely scrumptious and one of the best salads I’ve eaten lately. It’s filled with beautiful, sweet, red bosc pears, the luscious taste of toasted pecans, the rich flavors of pecorino romano cheese, and the sweet and tart taste of dried cranberries topped with a spectacular ginger vinaigrette.

I wanted a salad with a little bite, a little sweetness, and a delicious light dressing that didn’t overpower the salad. Balsamic vinegar tends to be a little on the strong side so I chose to use white wine vinegar instead. After making the dressing I wondered what kind of additional flavorings I could pair it up with to give the pears a nice taste. I decided on ginger. While I only used a half teaspoonful which gave a wonderful essence to the dressing, a full teaspoon or even more could be added for those of you who want a stronger ginger taste. I loved this dressing and it turned out fantastic. But if you like a lot of dressing on your salad you may want to double the ingredients for this amount of salad.

If you’re weary of the same old, tired salad you always have, consider trying something new like this one. It is SO tasty. It’s spectacular for company, too. You can have this salad and dressing ready to serve in about 15-20 minutes. We loved this delicious, healthy, low calorie, gluten free salad and believe you will too.

This was a fabulous salad with lots of juicy pears.

The Ginger Vinaigrette was spectacular.

The taste of this cheese was amazing. It added so much to the salad. A little extra sprinkle on top added even more deliciousness to this salad.

The toasted pecans were so succulent, so tasty. They added such a rich savory goodness to this salad. You can make sugared pecans if you desire, but I’m trying to stay away from excess sugar. Even still, the roasted pecans tasted amazing.

Here’s what I did.

I put 3 bags of Butter Bliss lettuce in a large salad bowl.

Here the salad greens are in the bowl.

Here I’ve added diced red onion. This gives the salad a nice bite.

Add craisins.

Place whole pecans in a toaster oven or regular oven at 400-450 for about 10 minutes until roasted.

Grate pecorino romano cheese. This stuff was amazing. I loved the deep, rich savory flavor.

Here I’ve grated the cheese. I like a lot of cheese. Next time I will probably use twice as much and still use some for garnish.

Here the pecans have been roasted.

Here I’ve added the cheese.

Now I’ve tossed the toasted pecans on top of the salad.

Here I’ve put some lemon juice in a bowl. I’m going to soak the pears in some lemon juice to keep them fresh a little longer.

Here I’ve sliced the pears and I’m swishing and swirling them around in the juice. Make sure you swish both sides really well.

I cored the pears but I didn’t peel them. 

After soaking the pears in lemon juice pat them dry slightly.

Layer the pears on top of the salad.

Here’s another look at this fabulous Pear Salad.

To make the Ginger Vinaigrette: These are the ingredients you will need plus ginger.

Measure extra virgin olive oil into measuring cup.

Measure out white white vinegar. Add to olive oil. Balsamic vinegar adds such a strong flavor to salad dressing and I wanted something more temperate.

Measure out lemon juice. Add to oil and vinegar.

Add Dijon mustard.

Add dehydrated onions. Green onions would work well here, too, as a substitute.

Add kosher salt.

Add pepper.

Add honey. I tried it with 2 tablespoons but it still had a little too much bite for us so I added an extra tablespoon and it was just right.

I whisked all the ingredients together and liked the taste but felt it was missing something. Then I started to think about what kind of spice or herb would go nice with pears. So I thought — what about ginger? I only added a half teaspoon and it had a wonderful subtle taste that we loved, but if you really like ginger you may want to increase this to 1 whole teaspoon or more.

Here I’ve whisked all the ingredients together.

The Ginger Vinaiegrette is a fabulous dressing. It made the salad fantastic.

Here’s a look at the salad before dressing is applied.

We garnished the Pear Salad with extra cheese. Wow, was it ever marvelous.

Here I’ve tossed the salad.

Here’s a close up look at this great Pear Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette .

You will love the blend of flavors of this amazing salad.

The deep flavored cheese, toasted pecans, and red onion balanced the sweetness of the pears and craisins.

The delicate flavors of the Ginger Vinaigrette over this salad are spectacular.

Here’s the recipe.

PEAR SALAD WITH GINGER VINAIGRETTE

(My own concoction)

3 bags Butter Bliss lettuce

1 cup grated Pecorino Romano Cheese

3 red pears, cored, diced, unpeeled

1 cup toasted pecans

1/3 cup diced red onion

¾ cup craisins

lemon juice

1 cup extra grated pecorino romano cheese for garnish

Place lettuce in large salad bowl. Add diced red onion, then layer craisins over top. Sprinkle cheese then nuts. In a small bowl pour out some lemon juice. Slice and core pears. Place slices in lemon juice and swish both sides in lemon juice. Pat dry with towels or paper towels. Layer pear slices over top of salad. Toss ingredients before serving. Place on individual plates. Serve with dressing. About 8 large servings. Refrigerate leftovers.

GINGER VINAIGRETTE

(My own concoction)

1/3 cup canola oil

¼ cup white wine vinegar

3 tbsp. honey

1 tbsp. lemon juice

½ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1 tsp. dehydrated minced onion (sliced green onions will also work)

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

½ tsp. ginger

Whisk all ingredients together and serve over top of salad portion.

I thought this salad was so amazing I ate almost two plates of this for dinner!

You will love this tasty salad.

If you’re tired of eating salad the same way all the time, consider trying this tasty option.

Here’s a look at the dressing. The honey and ginger balance out the Dijon mustard, dehydrated onions, lemon juice, and white white vinegar. Yum, yum.

Join me for some salad! Pull up a chair, grab a plate and let’s eat.

This is a great salad to serve for company, too.

One more look at this delightful salad dressing. Delicate, subtle flavors rather than strong, overpowering flavors make this a spectacular dressing. It enables you to taste and savor the flavors of the nuts and cheese better. An overpowering balsamic vinaigrette would hide those flavors from your palate.

Your family will love this yummy salad. It’s healthy, low calorie, and gluten free too.

You may also like these great salad recipes:

Fruity Spinach Salad with Peachy Balsamic Vinaigrette

Fabulous Chef Salad

Columbia Restaurant “1905″ Salad

Harvest Turkey Salad with Cherry Vinaigrette

Spinach Pomegranate Salad

Salad Greens with Berries, Cashews, and Goat Cheese

Spring Mix with Peaches, Walnuts, and Feta

Related articles

• NEW! LEAN CUISINE Salad Additions(TM) are the Hottest Thing to Hit the Frozen Aisle (thehotspotorlando.com)
• Salad Recipes (slideshare.net)
• 2013 VegCharlotte Awards – Salads! (vegcharlotte.wordpress.com)
• Lemon Vinaigrette (joyfulhealthyeats.com)
• Winter Chopped Salad (thecocinamonologues.com)
• Spring Salad, Spring Salad Recipes & Spring Salad Ideas | Pottery Barn (potterybarn.com)
• Recipe: Cedar planked salmon with grilled peaches and soy ginger vinaigrette (seattletimes.com)
• Homemade Honey Mustard Vinaigrette (abeautifulmess.com)
• Baby Romaine Blueberries, Carrots, and Green Apple Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette #SaladJam (theroxxbox.com)