Pear Manchego Salad Food

ROASTED PEAR SALAD

Steps:

• For the pears, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a small bowl, drizzle the pears with the olive oil, sprinkle with the sugar and salt, and toss to coat well. Transfer the pears to a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool.
• For the vinaigrette, whisk together the olive oil, pecan oil, vinegar, honey, mustard, and shallots in a small mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
• To assemble the salad, combine the endive leaves and bitter greens in a large serving bowl. Add the vinaigrette and toss to coat well. Wait until just before serving to top with the pears, blue cheese, and pecans.

ARUGULA AND PEAR SALAD

Steps:

• Toast nuts in small pan over medium heat until fragrant. Cool.
• Combine arugula and pear in a salad bowl, add nuts then dress the salad with lemon juice and olive oil, salt and pepper. Top salad with lots of blue cheese crumbles.

ENDIVE, PEAR, AND ROQUEFORT SALAD

Steps:

• Trim off the core end of each head of endive and slice it in half lengthwise. Cut out the cores, separate the leaves, and place 1 1/2 to 2 heads of endive on each plate.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, egg yolk, salt, and pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Toss the pears with some vinaigrette and place on the endive. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette over the endive leaves to moisten them. Crumble the Roquefort onto the endive. Sprinkle with walnuts and serve at room temperature.

SPICY GREEN SALAD WITH MANCHEGO AND PEARS

Steps:

• Cook seeds in 1 tablespoon oil in a small heavy skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until puffed and beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels and reserve oil. Season seeds with salt and pepper.
• Whisk together vinegar, honey, mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Add remaining 1/3 cup olive oil and reserved oil from skillet in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified.
• Divide greens and cheese among salad plates. Cut off 2 opposite sides of each pear (reserve for another use), leaving a 1/2-inch-thick lengthwise center slice with stem and core. Arrange a pear slice on each plate and drizzle dressing over salads. Sprinkle with seeds.

PEAR AND POMEGRANATE SALAD WITH GORGONZOLA AND CHAMPAGNE VINAIGRETTE

Steps:

• In a decorative bowl or platter, add the spinach or romaine. Cut the pear into fans, and then slice again on the diagonal, add the greens, crumble the Gorgonzola onto the salad and then drizzle with about half of the vinaigrette. Top with fresh cracked pepper and lightly drizzle the whole salad with the honey. Serve immediately.
• In a small bowl or glass jar, add all the ingredients except the olive oil. Mix well, then slowly drizzle in the olive oil to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.

WARM BEET, CHORIZO & PEAR SALAD

Steps:

• Put the beets in a large pan of water (if you have a mix of colours, cook in separate pans as the colours will bleed). Bring the water to a boil, cover and leave to simmer - about 20-40 mins, depending on the size of the beets. Use a skewer or small sharp knife to check that they're tender in the centre (try not to poke too often or they'll bleed all their juices into the water).
• Drain the beets and leave to cool in a colander. When cool enough to handle, peel away the skins, root and stalks, then roughly chop or slice the beets.
• Put the chorizo in a cold frying pan and fry over a medium heat until crisp - you should collect lots of oil in the pan. Lift out the chorizo with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Tip in the almonds and fry quickly until just turning brown on the edges. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper to dry.
• Make the dressing by melting the membrillo in the pan with the chorizo oil, sherry vinegar and 1 tbsp lemon juice. Mix in the olive oil and season.
• Core and thinly slice the pear, toss with a little lemon juice to stop it browning, then arrange on a platter with the beets, chorizo and almonds. Toss together with the dressing, if you like, or serve the dressing on the side. Sprinkle over the parsley and manchego and serve immediately.

ARUGULA SALAD WITH MANCHEGO, APPLES, AND CARAMELIZED WALNUTS

Steps:

• Boil balsamic vinegar in small saucepan over medium-high heat until syrupy and reduced to 1/4 cup, about 4 minutes.
• Whisk oil and Champagne vinegar in bowl. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Keep at room temperature. Rewarm balsamic syrup before using. Rewhisk vinaigrette before using.)
• Toss arugula, apples, half of cheese, dates, walnuts, and shallots in large bowl with enough vinaigrette to coat. Season salad with salt and pepper.
• Mound salad in center of each plate. Drizzle balsamic syrup around salads. Sprinkle remaining cheese atop salads.