Pear & Mixed Green Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette

“What kind of dressing do you have?”

“Well, we’ve got 1000 island, balsamic vnaigrette, blue cheese, French, ranch, honey mustard, Caesar, parmesan peppercorn, and our house Italian,” I rattle off from memory. Over and over and over again. Inevitably the customer gets 1000 island on their side salad (eww, btw) but only tells me after I’m out of breath from reciting the list. Sometimes, they ask twice before making a decision. Why we don’t have our dressings listed on the menu is beyond me. Drives me bonkers.

And has kind of turned me off of salad dressing. Forget that from the ages of 4 to 14 I assumed any sort of vegetable was just a vehicle for ranch dressing. Now, I normally just do a little balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and pepper on my salads. Sometimes, if I’m feeling funky I’ll do an avocado or salsa.

But, now I’ve got a new go-to salad dressing. And go-to salad. This Pear and Mixed Green Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette is filling but fresh, a perfect way to ring in the New Year. A fresh cranberry vinaigrette dresses a simple salad of mixed greens, red onion, bacon crumbles, pear, and blue cheese. Salty, tart, sweet, crunchy, creamy. Phenomenal. 

Pear and Mixed Green Salad (serves 1, recipe by Amanda)

2 cups mixed green lettuce blend

2 TBSP sliced red onion

½ slightly under ripened pear, thinly sliced

2 slices crisp bacon, crumbled

¼ cup crumbled blue cheese

Cranberry Vinaigrette, recipe follows

Place all ingredients except dressing in a bowl and toss. Top with dressing. Serve immediately.

Cranberry Vinaigrette

2 TBSP cranberry sauce (fresh if you can)

1 TBSP balsamic vinegar

½ TBSP olive oil

1 tsp. lemon juice

pinch of salt

Whisk all ingredients together until uniform. Can be stored in fridge until ready to use.

Now this is worth repeating.