Pear, Walnut and Blue Cheese Salad

Yhup, it's summer time - and autumn is fast approaching, so here is a tasty lil salad to add to the lazy summer meal or bbq.

PEAR and WALNUT SALAD

For the dressing:  2 teaspoons of runny honey
                           1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
                           2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Combine these three ingredients together to make the dressing. Couldn't be simpler...

2 pears - whatever variety is in season and/or to your preference.
Simply core the pears and cut thinly (with the skin on).
Place in a bowl and pour most of the dressing over them

4 big handfuls of lettuce (rocket works best - but whatever salad leaves you like)
1 small red onion - cut thinly into slices
100g of blue cheese - crumbled
1/2 to 3/4 cup of lightly toasted walnuts
Combine these all together - then scatter the pear slices on top - followed by the remaining dressing

And enjoy

We've made this salad a few times already - and always a winner...
Feel free to add sliced celery as well if you want to bulk it up a bit when extra guests arrive
And for the "whole-hog" effect, add thin slices of fresh fennel bulb as well
Let your guests crack pepper and flaky sea salt over their portion themselves


Pear, Walnut and Blue Cheese Salad

Broccoli Salad Recipe with images

My wife ordered this Broccoli Salad at a Café recently and after much analysis of the ingredients,we think we've come up with a version that is pretty close...

Here's how to make it yourself:

1) In a salad bowl, finely slice red and yellow capsicum

2) take a RED onion and cut it in half
    cut the half onion in half again, and then slice across

3)  finely slice some sundried tomatoes (plain or marinated) and add to the capsicum and red onion mix

4) Add some chopped ham (or if you want a Kosher version, chopped smoked chicken)

broccoli florets

5) Add some broccoli florets that have been dunked in salted boiling water for 2 minutes, then soaked in cold water until cool. Make sure you drain the cool broccoli well...
Another option is to microwave the broccoli for a bit before cooling.

6) Add 3 heaped tablespoons (or more to your liking) of coleslaw mayonnaise.

7) season with salt and pepper, then mix it all together and enjoy with some freshly baked bread of your choice...

If you're making this with smoked chicken, feel free to add a handful of roasted cashew nuts to it as well.



Broccoli Salad Recipe with images