Serious Eats: Recipes
Healthy & Delicious: Mixed Greens with Pears, Pecans, Blue Cheese, and Honey Balsamic Dressing
Editor's note: On Mondays, Kristen Swensson Sturt of Cheap, Healthy, Good swings by these parts to share healthy and delicious recipes with us. Take it away, Kristen!
[Photograph: Kristen Swensson Sturt]
If I had my druthers, salads would be made of nuts, cheese, and a fruity dressing with a few leaves of arugula sprinkled on top. Alas, those druthers miss the whole point of a salad, which "should" be a light, healthy meal. I'm not alone, though. Visit any restaurant, and you'll find salads packed with heavy (albeit delicious) add-ons, making them slightly less nutritious than a bag of Big Macs.
But it doesn't have to be that way. By maximizing the impact of your extras, you can create a healthy salad you'll want to eat. Let's use Mixed Greens with Pears, Pecans, Blue Cheese, and Honey Balsamic Dressing for an example. The vinaigrette recipe comes from Catherine Walthers Soups + Sides, while the remainder of the ingredients are fairly standard salad toppings.
- A little bit of an assertive fromage goes a long way. I used a pungent blue in this case.
- Amplify the nuttiness of nuts by toasting them.
- A whole, chopped up pear adds sweetness and another dose of produce.
- Toss the greens in half the dressing, so guests would get a little bit in every bite, without drenching the whole thing.
By following these simple rules, you can serve a salad that leaves room for the main course. That is, unless they want seconds.
