Roasted Pear Salad with OrangeVinaigrette, American Blue Cheese & Spicy Pecans

Preparation

Melt the butter in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. Stir in the sugar and chile powder and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Add the pecans, toss to coat in the mixture and cook for 1 minute. Season with salt and transfer to a plate to cool.

Orange Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh orange juice
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup olive oil

Preparation

• Bring the orange juice to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat and cook until reduced to 2 tablespoons, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly.
• Combine the reduced orange juice, vinegar, honey and salt and pepper in a blender and blend until combined. With the motor running, slowly add the oil and blend until emulsified.

Roasted Pears

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 3 slightly underipe Bosc pears, peeled, cored and quartered
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a large ovenproof sauté pan over medium heat. Add the honey and cook until dissolved. Add the pears and cinnamon and toss to coat. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook until the pears are lightly golden brown and soft but still retain their shape, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once.

Salad

Ingredients

• 6 ounces mesclun greens
• Orange Vinaigrette, recipe above
• Roasted Pears, recipe above
• 8 ounces American blue cheese, crumbled
• Spicy Pecans, recipe above

Preparation

• Place the greens in a large bowl, add half of the vinaigrette, salt and pepper to taste and toss to coat. Mound the meslcun in the center of 4 large plates.
• Arrange 3 pear quarters around the perimeter of the greens and sprinkle the greens and pears with the blue cheese. Drizzle with more of the dressing and garnish with the pecans.

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