Pear Salad with Candied Walnuts

Final plating of the pear salad with dressed kale, pear, candied walnuts, dried cranberries, and cleu cheese.

5 from 86 votes

Pear Salad with Candied Walnuts

This kale and pear salad is topped with dried cranberries, candied walnuts, and tangy blue cheese. It's a great fall salad for kale and pear lovers alike!

Course Salads

Cuisine American

Diet Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Prep Time 10

Total Time 10

Servings servings

Calories 300kcal

Author Yumna Jawad

Equipment

Mixing Bowl Set

Ingredients

For the Dressing

1 garlic clove grated
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup olive oil

For the Salad

6 cups kale leaves roughly chopped
2 small pears thinly sliced
1 cup candied walnuts
½ cup crumbled blue cheese
¼ cup dried cranberries

Instructions

In a large serving bowl, whisk together garlic, orange juice, apple cider vinegar, Dijon, honey and salt and pepper. Slowly stream in the olive oil and whisk until emulsified.
Add chopped kale on top of the dressing. Using your hands, massage the dressing into the kale to help break down the leaves. Massage until the kale is bright green and starts to feel soft.
Top kale with sliced pears, candied walnuts, blue cheese and cranberries, serve.

Notes

Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container. It will last about 2-3 days in the fridge. To prevent the pear from oxidizing, I would recommend coating it with lemon juice before adding to the salad.

Make Ahead: You can make the dressing up to one month in advance. You can make a huge batch of the dressing and use as much as needed for the salad.

Substitutes: For best results, follow the recipe as is. However there is no cooking or baking here, so feel free to substitute and make it your own. You can leave out the dried cranberries, change the walnuts to another nut, or use feta or goat cheese instead of blue cheese.

Original Dressing Recipe:
▢ 1/4 cup olive oil
▢ 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
▢ 1 tablespoon maple syrup
▢ 1 clove garlic clove
▢ 1 tsp fresh thyme
▢ Salt and pepper

Nutrition