Spinach Salad with Pear Dressing

Submitted by Geema

"This is a dinner party salad that is light, delicious and different. People are usually totally surprised to discover that the dressing is made mostly of pears. The herbs add a lot to the recipe, but be careful not to be too heavy handed with them, or they will overpower the other ingredients."

 

• Ready In: 15mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• fresh baby spinach leaves or mixed lettuce greens
• 1 granny smith apple, cut into small cubes
• 2 stalks celery, sliced thin
• 3 scallions, sliced
• 2 ripe pears, peeled,cored and diced
• 5 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1⁄2 cup canola oil or 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1⁄4 cup raw cashews
• 1⁄4 cup cashews (to garnish)

directions

1. Place spinach or lettuce greens in a large salad bowl, or on individual plates.
2. Distribute the apples, celery and scallions over the lettuce.
3. Place the remaining ingredients, except the handful of cashews for garnish, in a blender or food processor.
4. Pulse until smooth.
5. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and sprinkle with extra cashews.

Reviews

[DDW]

Delicious salad! I loved that fact that it is so different from anything else I've had before. I made individual servings and drizzled the dressing sparingly because it is a thicker dressing I didn't want it to be goopy. I made everything "as is" except I didn't use any celery because I don't care for it. Very unique flavor and everyone really liked it. I'm thinking this is going to be the salad at my next dinner party!

 

[Laurita]

This was a good and unique salad. I didn't have raspberry vinegar which I'm sure would have been good, so I just used apple cider vinegar. I tasted the dressing and felt a need for a teaspoon of sugar to take off the vinegar tartness. It was really good, thanks for a good, nice looking, and classy side salad!

 

[glynn117]

I found it a bit too tart, perhaps my pears weren't sweet enough. But with the addition of another pear and some honey, my dinner guests loved it! One of the guest at the dinner party took the leftover dressing home! Thanks for a great recipe!

 

[alicious]

delish. the pear makes for a wonderfully creamy and still vegan recipe. also jives well with avocado on the salad. it does make a bit more dressing than i expected; might halve the recipe next time.

 

[sugarpea]

Divine! Definitely a dinner party worthy salad. I used a very ripe pear for 1/2 recipe and had no problem with the thickness of the dressing. It was perfect. This is a GREAT salad dressing. I didn't alter it or the salad recipe at all and won't change anything next time.