SMOKED PEAR SALAD WITH GORGONZOLA
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| Smoked Pears Salad Topped with Zesty Gorgonzola |
Ok, to the melody of Simon
& Garfunkel’s classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water”—
When You’re craving salad,
feeling tired,
When
boring options are in your eyes
This recipe will feed your
senses
SmokinLicious® is on your side…
All kidding aside, here’s a
flavorful blueprint that will take salad to another taste stratosphere- Smoked
Pear Salad with Gorgonzola!
This is a very simple salad once you’ve followed our segment on
smoking fresh pears. With pears in
season during the colder months, it’s a great time to get your serving of
greens. So, let’s get started with what
you will need for Smoke Pear Salad with Gorgonzola:
Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup of
Gorgonzola cheese
• 1/3 cup of
extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup
balsamic vinegar – I prefer a flavor infused one – I am using Tangerine
balsamic vinegar but anything in the citrus line would work well
• 1 head of
lettuce in my case, I am using Boston lettuce
• Fresh pepper
• ½ cup of SmokinLicious®Minuto® Wood Chips Size #6
Preparing the Salad:
Taking your previously smoked pear halves, time to remove the skin
and prepare to cut these for the salad.
Now, this is where you need to make some decisions on how you want your
salad to look. You can either slice the
pears to add to whole Boston or Romaine lettuce leaves or you can cube them to
add to chopped lettuce. I will be
chopping my lettuce and cubing my smoked pears.
Ideal sizing is ½ inch thickness for your pears to provide the right
balance between the boldness of the smoked pear and the savory bite of the
gorgonzola. I’ll be balancing the two
out with my vinaigrette.
Boston lettuce is ideal for forming its own bowl and is an ideal
choice for this pear salad. If you want
to use the leaves whole, lay 1-2 for a good personal size salad. I am chopping my lettuce for a full side dish
platter. Be sure to clean the lettuce
and pat dry prior to using. The lettuce,
if cut, should be rough cut in order to hold the pears and hold the
vinaigrette.
Assembling
the Salad:
Once the lettuce is cut or laid in whole leaf form to the plate,
it’s time to add the cubed or sliced pear.
Be sure you try to keep the pears in a single layer. Now it’s time to add the gorgonzola
cheese. Depending on your preference for
this very strong cheese, begin sprinkling it all around the salad or if using
the lettuce as a bowl, providing an even layer of cheese. It’s that simple! Now you’ll see just how well these colors all
work together. Pleasing to the eyes and
mouth!
Making the
Vinaigrette:
Now that the salad components are plated it’s time to prepare the
vinaigrette. I like to mix my dressings in a 2-cup measuring
cup in order to make it easy to add to the salad. You will need a small whisk as well. First, add 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil to
the measuring cup. Then add 1/3 cup
balsamic vinegar – I am using a Tangerine Infused Balsamic vinegar for a citrus
flavor to this salad. To the liquids,
grind some fresh ground pepper and then whisk until combined and
thickened. Do not mix the vinaigrette
unless you’re ready to serve the salad otherwise you’ll get a breakdown and
thinning.
The Finish:
Here is the final component to this great salad – drizzling a
tangerine vinaigrette over the smoked pears, Boston lettuce and
gorgonzola. It’s your choice how much to
add but just be sure you get most of the components coated with a bit or you’ll
be missing out on the fantastic balance of all the flavors. Smoky depth of the pears, bite of the
gorgonzola, crisp freshness of the lettuce and the tang of the oil and
vinegar. A perfect way to get heartiness
in a salad while enjoying the benefits of healthiness.
You know, the more I think
of it, I just bet Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel would be big fans of this
dish! Heck, in addition its great taste,
‘Gor-GON-zo-LA’ offers quite a syncopated rhythm opportunity! Bon
appetito!
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