Pear Salad with Pistachios, Bacon, + Maple Red Onion Vinaigrette

I get put on salad duty a lot for family dinners.  It might be the homemade dressings, it might be the crunch of some kind of nut, and it might be the fact that I own a bowl big enough to accommodate salad enough for twenty.

It’s probably the bowl.

I try to make it match the season as much as possible.  Strawberries + sunflower seeds in the spring, grilled peach + pecan for summer, anything with apples or pears for the fall and a wedge or a cobb thrown in here and there to mix it up.

 

For this one, I coupled my mom’s love of pistachios with fall pears, and crumbled bacon.  Then, I topped it all off with a red onion, maple vinaigrette… if you haven’t ever made your own salad dressing, this one has the blender do all of the work.

For the Salad:

• Salad greens {I am lazy, I just pick up whatever organic lettuce mix looks good that day, today it was a baby romaine mix}
• 1 – 2 pears depending on how many people you are serving, I plan for 1/3 pear per person
• pistachios {you can substitute pecans or walnuts here}
• cooked bacon, optional
• bleu, goat, or cheddar cheese, optional

For the Maple Red Onion Vinaigrette:

• 1/4 – 1/3 cup red onion, roughly chopped
• 3 Tablespoons of real maple syrup
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• juice of half a lime
• pinch salt, pinch of black or red pepper

Throw all of the vinaigrette ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth and a little frothy.  Allow to sit while you prep the salad ingredients. 

Chop the pears, you can slice if you want a pretty presentation or if you are going to individually plate.  When I’m making it for twenty, I just chop into bite sized pieces.  Crumble the bacon.

In a large bowl, dress the salad greens, tossing to coat evenly.  {You will NOT pour on all of the dressing, just use what you need and coat the leaves well.}  Then top with the pears, pistachios, bacon, and cheese if you’d like.