Pear pomegranate blue cheese salad with candied walnuts

Here’s a delicious simple entrée or light main meal. Walnuts not only taste great but are a rich source of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and an excellent source of those hard to find omega-3 fatty acids. Our pear pomegranate blue cheese salad with candied walnuts will keep you coming back for more so be sure to make double.

  • Prep Time

    10 Minutes

  • Cook Time

    8 Minutes

  • Serves

    4 People

Ingredients

For the salad

  • 4 cups packed mixed salad leaves washed
  • 2 firm ripe pears sliced
  • 75g Gorgonzola of other full flavoured blue cheese crumbled
  • ½ cup of pomegranate seeds

For the dressing

  • 1 large clove garlic crushed
  • 2 tablespoons walnut oil or extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

candied walnuts

  • 1 cup walnut halves
  • 4 teaspoons water
  • 2 tablespoons light brown or raw caster sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt

You'll Need

  • Multix Bake
  • 1 Multix Freezer bag

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 200°C
  2. Line a small baking tray with Multix Bake.
  3. Toss walnuts with water in a small bowl. Place in a Multix freezer bag and sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon and salt, toss to coat. Transfer to the prepared tray. Bake until the sugar is melted and the nuts are just starting to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Cool on the tray until the sugar hardens and cools.
  4. Using a large salad bowl mix all the salad dressing ingredients and season to taste. Add the pears and the walnuts; toss to coat. Transfer the salad to either individual plates or a large serving platter and finish each salad with a crumbling of blue cheese and a scatter of jewel like pomegranate seeds. Serve immediately.

Tip: To make the salad really easy, the walnuts can be prepared well in advance, once cool just keep them in an airtight container for up to 2 days before you need them. Be sure to use Multix Freezer bags to make coating easy with no mess, which means less to wash up!

Posted in Entrees, Gluten Free, Lunch, Quick & Easy, Vegetarian