I often pair a main course with a side salad and am always looking for new recipes to avoid boredom for my belly. And then there’s times when I am in the mood for just a salad (not often, but still). This green salad does the job of being satisfying as a main course if you are in such a mood. It also seems super fancy even though it’s quite simple to prepare, so it’s a lovely choice for serving guests. The following recipe make 2 servings, and you can easily double, triple, or quadruple! it (dinner party anyone?) to make more.
Ingredients:
1 ripe pear, halved and cored
2 tsp. plus 1 Tbs. fig jam, divided (I use Organic Adriatic Fig Spread because it’s really THE best)
1-2 oz. soft goat cheese, cut into 2 slices
1/2 Tbs. olive oil, plus more for drizzling, divided
1Tbs. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. Dijon mustard
baby arugula leaves
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup chopped toasted walnuts
black pepper for seasoning
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325°. Place pear halves on a baking sheet & spoon 1 tsp. fig jam into each pear half. Place goat cheese rounds on top of jam, and drizzle lightly with olive oil.
2. Bake for about 30 minutes.
3. Whisk 1 Tbs. jam, lemon juice, and mustard together in a bowl. Drizzle in 1/2 Tbs. olive oil while whisking. Season with pepper.
4. Toss arugula with dressing, reserving some dressing for drizzling pears.
5. Plate arugula and top with toasted walnuts and red onion.
6. Remove pears from oven with tongs and plate on center of bed of arugula.
7. Drizzle pears with reserved dressing & sprinkle black pepper over salad for seasoning.
(My photo above excludes the red onion because my local store was out, but it is an essential ingredient in my opinion to balance out the sweet taste of the fig jam.)
