Pears and Arugula Salad with Balsamic Dressing

The combination of sweet Pears and slightly bitter Arugula leaves is delightful. It is enhanced by a Balsamic dressing , toasted walnuts, and Parmesan cheese . I usually like to serve this in individual plates and not make a big Salad with these ingredients. Sometimes I add a few pomegranates seeds or dried cranberries, for some colour.

It is easy to make this salad and doesn’t take much time. Give it a try.

Ingredients

• Arugula leaves. a handful
• Pear 1
• Walnuts 1/2 cup or less.
• Balsamic vinegar. 1 Tablespoon
• Honey 1 teaspoon
• Olive oil 1/4 teaspoon
• Parmesan cheese
• Salt less than 1/4 teaspoon

Prepping

The Arugula leaves I have used are small and soft as they were grown in the Hydroponic method. If the leaves you are using are big, tear them into smaller pieces. Then, wash and dry the leaves.

Rinse the Pear, then cut into half. Remove the core and slice the halves.

Heat a small pan, put the 1/2 cup Walnuts in it and toast it. Keep the heat low so that they don’t burn. Once the edges a little brownish remove from the heat and keep aside.

dressing

Mix the 1 tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon of Honey, 1/4 teaspoon of Olive oil, and a pinch of Salt well in a bowl. Then, keep it aside.

to serve

Take 2 quarter plates, arrange the Arugula leaves, then place the pear slices on top of the leaves. You can use all the pear slices.

Mix the dressing well before drizzling it on the leaves and pears.

Add the toasted walnuts.

Then the Parmesan Cheese Shavings. ( I use a potato peeler to shave off slices of the cheese )

You can add Pomegranate seeds OR dried Cranberries if you want. It adds color. I didn’t have either of them.

Note

Instead of Balsamic Dressing you can drizzle Balsamic reduction or store bought bottled Balsamic glaze. They are both rather sweet though.

It is easy to make Balsamic reduction.

Add 1 cup of Balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan. Mix about 1 teaspoon of sugar. Heat on low heat till the vinegar thickens . Keep stirring till you get the desired thickness. It will thicken more once it cools, so keep that in mind .