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 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 Pecorino Romano cheese was amazing. It added so much to the salad. A little extra sprinkle on top added even more deliciousness. The toasted pecans were succulent and tasty. They added such a rich, savory breadth of flavor. 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.
Put 3 bags of Butter Bliss lettuce in a large salad bowl. Add 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. I like a lot of cheese. Add roasted pecans and cheese.
Soak the pears in some lemon juice to keep them fresh a little longer. 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.
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, and dehydrated onions. Green onions would work well here, too, as a substitute. Add kosher salt, pepper, honey and ginger. Whisk to combine or place in blender and pulse for about 10 seconds. This will make the dressing thicker and it will blend better as well.
Toss salad before serving. The Ginger Vinaigrette was a fabulous dressing. It made the salad fantastic. You will love the blend of flavors with the salad ingredients.
We garnished the Pear Salad with extra cheese. Wow, was it ever marvelous. 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
- ⅓ 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.
- ⅓ 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.
- Or place ingredients in a blender and pulse about 10-15 seconds until ingredients are emulsified.
- Drizzle over salad.
- Refrigerate leftovers.
I thought this salad was so amazing I ate almost two plates of this for dinner!
Your family will love this yummy salad. It’s healthy, low calorie, and gluten free too.
If you’re tired of eating salad the same way all the time, consider trying this tasty option. This is a great salad to serve for company, too. 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 salads look so yummy! Thanks
Thanks. This one is spectacular. I especially love the dressing.
Teresa, this looks so good
It was so fabulous. I absolutely adored the dressing.
love fruit & cheese combinations, especially with the onion.
looks delish!
It really was delicious. I’m eating the last bite of it as I type! I ran out of dressing and had to use a stronger balsamic dressing with it. I will say it is so much better with the more delicate ginger vinaigrette because it allows you to taste the flavors of the cheese and nuts better. Yum.