Roasted Pear Salad

In my New Year's Eve post, I showed this Roasted Pear Salad which I have made for several dinner parties this fall.  I thought you might enjoy the recipe.  It's a pretty salad, as you can see and is especially nice for fall or winter.

Roasted Pear Salad (serves 8)

Pears:

3 bunches of fresh thyme sprigs

4 ripe but firm Bartlett pears, halved, cored and sliced only

3/4 of the way up to the neck of the pear

1/4 c. honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spread thyme on a rimmed cookie sheet.  Place pears on top and press lightly to fan the strips.  Drizzle with honey and bake 15 minutes.  Let stand 30 minutes to 3 hours.  Serve at room temperature over the greens.

Salad:

Butter lettuce or romaine

arugula

toasted almond slices

dried cranberries

Dressing:

3 T. cider or apple juice

2 T. cider vinegar

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 medium shallot, finely chopped

2 t. fresh thyme leaves

Toss greens with nuts and cranberries.  Place pear carefully on top and add dressing.  Add a slice of Saga Bleu cheese if you like.  I do!  It's delish! You can also toss the greens with the dressing before adding the pear. 

I'll be posting this on Gollum by Design's Foodie Friday blog party.  If you haven't visited this, give it a try for some great recipe ideas.

http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/2009/02/introducing-foodie-friday.html