This pear salad is packed full of flavors, textures and colors. The honey poppyseed dressing finishes it and makes it the perfect centerpiece for your next gathering!
This post is brought to you in collaboration with Tanimura & Antle Artisan® Lettuce
The warmth of our indian summer is finally cooling down here in Oregon and the biting cold has started. All this makes me want to do is crank on the heater, blast the christmas music and decorate for the holidays. Of course that hasn’t been what I have been doing (hello real life!) but we have been blasting the christmas music already at the studio where no one can judge us.
But more than anything what I am looking forward to is gathering friends and family around to feast on some delicious meals. It’s been a rough season and there is lots to worry and fret over but we have been trying our best to focus our energies into caring for the ones we have around us. And in this family that means food. Good homemade food that screams love.
When it comes to entertaining one of my favorite things to lead with is a big gorgeous salad. Not only is this a great thing to teach our kids that vegetables are not only delicious but also beautiful. Tanimura & Antle Artisan® Lettuce is my secret trick for pulling together a gorgeous fresh salad.
I have been using their lettuce for years so I was so excited to partner with them on creating some holiday salads that are perfect table centerpieces. Their lettuces come packed in these great clear clamshells and each one has four small heads of artisan lettuce inside of it.
Having grown our own lettuces in Georgia and Oregon extensively I have to tell you that their lettuces offer such a great variety of lettuces that are normally hard to find in the store. I love that I can get such a variety of colors and textures in just one container, and the heads stay fresh for a good long time with how they are packed.
This pear salad is filled with some of my favorite things. Caramelized onions…because yum! Roasted acorn squash (you could also totally use butternut squash or kabocha squash too if you find it easier). Figs and pears. Sharp pungent feta cheese and crunchy sliced almonds. Top it all with a honey poppyseed dressing and you have a perfect combination.
Hug the people around you extra hard today and feed them something made from your heart.
Pear Salad with Figs and Caramelized Onions Recipe
This pear salad is packed full of flavors, textures and colors. The honey poppyseed dressing finishes it and makes it the perfect centerpiece for your next gathering!
Ingredients
- Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- Salad:
- 1 clamshell of Tanimura & Antle Artisan® Lettuce cut, rinsed and patted dry.
- ½ cup caramelized red onions look for Tanimura & Antle Artisan® red onions!
- ½ cup diced roasted acorn squash
- 4-6 figs cut in half
- 1 pear thinly sliced
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
- ¼ cup feta cheese
Instructions
- 1. Prep the caramelized onions (tutorial in notes if needed) and roast the diced acorn squash on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees with olive oil, salt, and pepper until fork tender.2. Whisk dressing ingredients together.3. Toss lettuce with dressing and toppings.4. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: This post is brought to you in collaboration with Tanimura & Antle Artisan® Lettuce. We are grateful to our blog partners who enable us to bring you beautiful free content every week!
I love this salad! Frankly, I love anything with caramelized onions but this salad really sings to my taste buds.