warm pear salad with dried cranberries
I somehow used to find time to watch Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Food Network show. But, I haven’t caught it in quite a long time – until this past week. She was making a version of these pears. And the recipe really resonated with me – so I thought I would make it my own and add a little twist. I omitted the cheese and brown sugar. And I added tangerine and cinnamon. I used chopped almonds instead of walnuts. My son seems to be reacting to walnuts lately. The last time he ate them, he immediately started crying saying his throat was both sore and swollen. Uh oh. As such, we are steering way clear of them. But, it doesn’t mean you have to. Truthfully, walnuts would be such a better match for this recipe – as their flavor melds perfectly with oranges and cranberries. Almonds are a close second. The choice is yours.
Believe it or not, it was 60 degrees in Colorado today. So, before we headed outside to play this afternoon, I decided to make these pears. I only had to assemble this salad quickly for dinner when we came inside. It made the house smell so incredibly good. You don’t need to feel guilty about it either!
For the pears:
3 Anjou pears – firm but ripe
- Peel the pears and cut them in half. Use a melon baller to remove the seeds. Cut a small slice off of the bottom (i.e., remove rounded end) so that it sits flat in a dish.
- Sprinkle pears with a few tablespoons of lemon juice so that they don’t turn brown while you are preparing the rest of the ingredients.
for the filling:
in a bowl prepare:
2 tblsp unsulphured dried cranberries
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1 minneola tangerine, membranes removed and juice saved in the bowl
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
for the baking liquid:
1/2 cup organic apple cider
2 tblsp agave nectar
2 tblsp port
for the salad dressing:
in a separate bowl whisk:
1/3 cup baking liquid
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Gently place pears in a baking dish and pour baking liquid in the base of the dish (not over the pears).
- Stuff each pear with 2 tablespoons of cranberries mixture.
- Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.
- Remove dish from the oven.
- Toss the arugula/mixed greens with the dressing and plate it. Set the pear on top and drizzle some basting liquid over the top of the pear.
