Name: Green Salad with Roasted Pears and Blue Cheese
Total time: PLACEHOLDER
Ingredients: 1/4 cup maple syrup; 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger; 3 firm pears , preferably Anjou or Bartlett; Salt and pepper; 2 tablespoons cider vinegar; 1 small shallot , minced; 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 2 bunches watercress , thick stems removed (8 cups); 1 head Bibb lettuce , torn into bite-sized pieces (6 cups); 1 cup crumbled blue cheese

Why This Recipe Works

Green Salad with Roasted Pears and Blue Cheese is the perfect balance of sweet, bitter, and tart to highlight the flavor of the fruit and pungent cheese. For the green salad component, we blended Bibb lettuce and watercress for flavor, color, and textural contrast. We tossed the pears with a maple syrup and ginger mixture and roasted them at high heat to caramelize the fruit sugars quickly. Crumbling a chunk of blue cheese just before serving ensured a flavorful, moist texture—the finishing touch to our Green Salad with Roasted Pears and Blue Cheese.

Before You Begin

Pears can be roasted up to three hours in advance, but keep them at room temperature until ready to serve.

Instructions

Line rimmed baking sheet with foil. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, place baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Whisk syrup and ginger together in bowl. Peel and quarter pears lengthwise. Core pears, then halve each quarter lengthwise.

Toss pears with 3 tablespoons syrup mixture. Spread pears on preheated baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Roast until browned on bottom, about 15 minutes. Flip each slice and roast until tender and deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Let pears cool on baking sheet while preparing salad.

Whisk vinegar, shallot, oil, and salt and pepper to taste into remaining syrup mixture. Combine watercress and lettuce in large serving bowl. Gently toss with vinaigrette. Scatter pears and blue cheese on top and serve.