I love a special salad during the holidays. If you are a fan of cranberry flavor, you will love this salad. It has a tart, sweet, and salty thing going on, which I love.
Pear, Apple, and Gorgonzola Salad with Candied Pecans and Cranberry Vinaigrette Dressing
Author: Sunflower Supper Club
Ingredients
For the Dressing:
- 1 cup canned whole berry cranberry sauce
- ½ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the Candied Pecans:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup real maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup pecan halves
Other Salad Ingredients:
- 10 ounces mixed gourmet baby salad greens
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 large Bartlett pear, thinly sliced
- 1 large apple, thinly sliced (I used Honeycrisp)
- 1 container (4 ounces) Gorgonzola cheese
- ½ cup dried Craisins
- 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
Instructions
For the Dressing:
- In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients
- Whisk well until thoroughly combined.
For the Candied Pecans:
- In a medium sized skillet over medium-low heat, melt the butter and add the rest of the ingredients.
- Cook about 7 minutes, until the syrup caramelizes and the pecans are brown.
- Transfer to a plate lined with wax paper to cool.
For the Salad:
- Toss lettuce in a large bowl with the dressing.
- You will probably have some left over.
- Divide the lettuce between 8 plates.
- Mix the 2 tablespoons orange juice with the pear and apple slices and divide evenly between the salads.
- Top each salad with Gorgonzola cheese, Craisins, and bacon.
Recipe adapted from Southern Living
Serves 8-10 as a first course
Enjoy!
Kim
Shared at these great parties:
Our very own Weekend Potluck
Across the Boulevard Snickerdoodle Sunday Party
What a special combo of flavors..I will be right over for dinner! 😉
Thanks Marsha! I’d love for you to hurry over for dinner! 🙂
I am in love with the raspberry vinaigrette, I can only imagine what the cranberry would be like. I can’t wait to try this. Thank you for sharing at Foodie Friends Friday.
I was all ready liking this salad, then I read the recipe for the killer dressing. OMGoodness, I love this salad!