Pear-Walnut Salad

I must have changed my mind at least four times before deciding to bring this Pear-Walnut Salad to last night’s holiday potluck. What put me over the edge was the sight of perfectly ripe pears sitting on my kitchen counter. My in-laws sent us a box of Harry and David pears — if you’ve ever tried them, I’m sure a ripe Royal Riviera is one of your favorite bites of the year too. My paring knife slid straight through them effortlessly, their juice rushed to the surface. I had to share these pears at their peak!

There was a recipe card inside the box for this salad, although it was sized for individual servings. For my potluck, I just served it in a large salad bowl, doubled up on the lettuce and adjusted the pear, blue cheese (I used a Stilton) and toasted nut quantities according to my taste. I’ve had many salads like this before, but the perfect pears made this one extra delicious. I did make a special trip to my local olive oil store for the nice champagne vinegar and walnut oil that the dressing recipe calls for (the aromas of that walnut oil were incredible!), but I think it would also be very delicious with white wine vinegar and regular extra virgin olive oil.

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8 Comments

  1. Aggie wrote:

    I’ve been thinking of this salad since I saw you post it on Instagram last night 🙂 I actually bought ingredients to make one similar today — I’m so glad you posted this because I wasn’t sure about the dressing. Beautiful salad Kathy!

    Posted 12.16.13 Reply
  2. Love this combo for a salad!!

    Posted 12.16.13 Reply
  3. Fresh and gorgeous! You can’t get much better than that!!

    Posted 12.17.13 Reply
  4. Amy Sullivan wrote:

    We had this salad last night. The dressing really makes this salad. The Harry & David Pears were great, too!

    Posted 12.26.13 Reply
  5. patsyk wrote:

    Now that is a gorgeous salad! I love that it was easily adapted to be shared at a potluck, too.

    Happy New Year!

    Posted 1.1.14 Reply