Not-your-ordinary Pear Salad

Pears are not something that i eat OR buy on a regular basis, but then my husband brought one home from a business trip (sometimes, the hotel where he stays delivers a plate of fruits to his room). I popped it into the fridge and completely forgot about it until one day, I opened the fridge and saw that it was starting to brown.

I vaguely remembered pears being used in salads and started googling to see what kind of ingredients are typically paired with pears in salads. It came down to pine nuts, arugula and crunchy Japanese cucumber … all of which I happened to have in the fridge.

Without much ado, I made it and wow! The pear’s creamy texture and gentle sweetness goes beautifully with the peppery arugula, the crunchy Japanese cucumbers, the creamy nuts and the tangy dressing. The key to good salads is contrasting textures and flavours.

Try my pear salad – it’s super delicious and healthy 🙂

Recipe
1 pear
1 tbs pine nuts
1 Japanese cucumber
Handful of arugula leaves
Olive oil
Lemon Juice
Balsamic vinegar
Agave nectar (or honey)
Cheddar
Black pepper
Salt

1. Cut pear and cucumber into bite size pieces.
2. Dry-toast pine nuts until they start to brown.
3. For the dressing, mix roughly  3 :1: 1: 1 ratio of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and agave nectar. Adjust according to your personal preference for sweetness/tartness.
4. In a bowl, mix pear, cucumber and arugula leaves with dressing.
5. Top with shaved cheddar, a crack of black pepper and salt, and you’re ready to serve!

Bunny’s Hacks
1. There are two ways to dry-toast pine nuts. One, pour the nuts into an ovenproof container and pop into oven for a few minutes until they start to brown slightly. Alternatively, pour them into a dry saucepan and heat gently over a low fire until they start to brown.
2. As I’m using a cheddar block, the easiest way for me to shave it is to use a vegetable peeler. That way you can get thin, small pieces that you can sprinkle easily over the salad.