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This pear and pecan winter salad layers juicy pears, bold blue cheese, toasted pecans, pops of pomegranate, and a little red onion. It’s fresh, festive, and just right for the season.

I enjoy eating salads for lunch a lot of days at school. I also like making a quick side salad for a meal whenever I don’t have a vegetable side dish.

However, my usual salads are basically a combination of lettuce, cheese, croutons, random veggies, and bottled dressing. The funny thing is that making a delicious and colorful side salad barely takes any additional time.

I decided even though it was winter I was going to make a salad. Winter salad is almost an oxymoron where I live because hardly anything grows here in the winter.

There are plenty of grocery stores that have fruits and vegetables but most are grown south of here. While I will certainly eat a salad in the winter it isn’t my favorite time to do so. I like being able to go to the farmer’s markets and get fresh vegetables in the summer.

Which is why I was really surprised when I looked through my blog and found that I actually had quite a few winter salads already on it. I have a Winter Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette , a Winter Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette , a Winter Fruit Salad with Vanilla Scented Lemon Drizzle , and a Cranberry Pecan Salad . How yummy do all of those sound?

Since I already had two winter salads with citrus plus one with cranberries I didn’t want to use any of those in my salad this time around. As usual I built my salad from the bottom up. I started with a mix of greens. You can use whatever is available at the store and looks good.

How do you choose what to put in your salad?

For me a good rule of thumb is the rule of 5. I like to choose a fruit, a nut, a cheese, a vegetable (besides the lettuce), and a dressing flavor. With just these few ingredients you can create a lovely salad in just minutes that will be the star of the show.

After that I generally like to have a fruit. When looking at winter fruits I chose between apples and pears. I feel like apples are more fall like so I went with the underrated pears.

Can I use a different type of nuts?

Yes! Use your favorite type of nut. Almonds, walnuts, or even pistachios would work well in this salad.

I was pretty excited with how this Pear and Pecan Winter Salad was going to taste but it looked pretty plain. The colors were all similar so it didn’t have anything to catch the eye. To curb that I grabbed a container of pomegranate seeds (arils) and tossed them with the salad. It was the perfect pop of color and added a great flavor too.

Ingredients:

mixed greens
pears (or apples if you prefer)
blue cheese crumbles (or you can choose feta or goat cheese)
pecans
pomegranate arils
red onion
dressing

To make the salad simply toss the greens, pears, blue cheese, pecans, pomegranate arils, and red onion together. Serve with dressing.

When serving at a dinner party simply layer the ingredients on top of the mixed greens for a prettier presentation.

Can I make the salad ahead of time?

You can make the salad up to 8 hours ahead of time. I like to sprinkle on the nuts and the onion at the end but you can mix it all up ahead of time.

When I served this salad at home I made a vinaigrette to go with it but when I took a giant bowl to work I simply served it with Italian dressing from a bottle because it was easy to take with me. I really enjoyed the ease of making this salad but the big flavors it packed. It’s perfect to brighten up any winter day!

If you’ve tried my Pecan and Pecan Winter Salad or any other recipe on Hezzi-D’s Recipe Box please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you! You can FOLLOW ME on:

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