Pear Salad with Gorgonzola and Candied Walnuts →

Pears and cheese are a classic pairing. Combining sweet juicy pears with full-flavored, salty, earthy Gorgonzola and crunchy, bitter-sweet candied walnuts will take you to culinary Nirvana. Serve over a bed of salad greens dressed with a tangy white balsamic vinaigrette and score points with your family or guests. Enjoy!

Pear Salad with Gorgonzola and Candied Walnuts
Serves 4 as a side salad

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large ripe Comice or Bartlett pear quartered and thinly sliced

• 2 tablespoons (or more to taste) Gorgonzola cheese crumbled (or other firm Bleu cheese)

• 3-4 tablespoons coarsely chopped candied walnuts (recipe below)

• 2-3 cups of salad greens of your choice (I used baby spinach, red leaf, and bib)

• White Balsamic Vinaigrette (recipe below)

• salt and pepper

Optional: micro-greens of choice (I used radish sprouts)

PREPARATION
Make the Candied Walnuts: makes about a cup; make ahead and store in an airtight container in a cool place. These candied walnuts are also great for snacking.
Preheat the oven to 350 F.

• 1 cup whole toasted walnut halves

• ¼ cup light brown sugar

• scant ½ teaspoon of salt

• ½ teaspoon of black pepper

Optional: a pinch of cayenne pepper

Preparation:

1. In a bowl, mix the sugar, salt, and pepper. Rinse the toasted walnuts to wet them and drain. Add the wet walnuts to the sugar mixture and mix well until the walnuts are well coated.

2. Spread the coated walnuts in a single layer on a foil or parchment-lined sheet pan and place in the preheated oven.

3. Mix after 4 minutes and continue baking for another 4-5 minutes.

4. Allow the nuts to cool completely before storing. They will become crunchy as they cool.

Make the vinaigrette: makes about a cup of vinaigrette

• ¼ cup Balsamic or White Wine vinegar

• ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 1 teaspoon honey

• ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper

• a few drops of lime juice

• ¾ cup of good-quality olive oil

Mix the first five ingredients in a medium bowl and slowly whisk in the oil until emulsified. Store for up to a week in an airtight container in a cool place.

Assemble the salads:

1. Place a small handful of salad greens on each of 4 plates.

2. Seed, quarter, and slice the pears so you have three slices for each plate.

3. Drizzle the pears and greens with the vinaigrette.

4. Sprinkle over with the Gorgonzola crumbles and chopped walnuts.

5. Finish with a few micro-green sprouts if using.

Wine pairing: for white wines, a light fresh Chablis, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Gruner Veltliner, Pinot Grigio, Albariño, or Rosé would work with this salad. Light red wines like Grenache, Beaujolais, Pinot Noir, or Nebbiolo are also good choices for those who prefer red wines. Avoid overly acidic/minerally whites and heavy tannin red wines.

Mango Avocado Salad →

If you like mangoes and avocado, you should try this colorful, quick, and easy salad. Creamy avocado and delicate silky smooth, sweet Honey mango combined with piquant Peppadew peppers, red onion, and cilantro dressed with a mixture of lime juice and olive oil. So easy, so good! I highly recommend using yellow Ataulfo mangoes (also called Honey mangoes) and Hass avocados if you can find them. Enjoy!

Mango Avocado Salad
Serves 2

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2022

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ripe mango (I like Ataulfo or Honey Mango)

• 1 ripe Hass avocado

• 3-4 bottled Peppadew peppers- chopped

• juice from ½ lime

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1-2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro

• two small handfuls of baby arugula or your choice of salad greens

• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon sea salt

• ground black pepper (optional)

PREPARATION

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2022

1. Peel and dice the avocado and mango into ½ inch pieces and add to a non-reactive bowl.

2. Add the chopped onion and Peppadew peppers, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, and salt, and mix the ingredients gently. Taste and adjust flavors to your preference.

3. Cover and refrigerate for at least a half-hour to allow the flavors to meld.

4. Arrange the baby arugula on salad plates and top with the mango-avocado mixture. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. (optional)

Serve as a side salad, or as part of a main course with your choice of protein. This salad is delicious served with Chile Crusted Rib Eye Steak.

Pineapple Mango Salsa →

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2019
Copy and paste recipe to print.

PINEAPPLE-MANGO-SALSA
Yield about 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients:
1 cup peeled diced ripe mango
1 cup diced pineapple
1/2 cup diced sweet red pepper, or cubanelle pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 jalapeno pepper finely chopped

Preparation:
Combine all the ingredients and refrigerate at least an hour for flavors to meld.

 Pineapple-Mango Salsa

When visiting family in San Antonio over the holidays, we couldn’t find cranberries to go with our holiday Turkey, so I decided to let the rich Mexican culinary tradition of Texas inspire me. Instead of my traditional cranberry relish, I came up with this colorful Pineapple-Mango Salsa using readily available ingredients from the local supermarket. I chose to use ripe yellow Ataulfo (Honey) mangoes because the larger more common red/orange Haden mangoes were not ripe. If you don’t want to buy and clean a whole pineapple, look for fresh, cleaned and cored pineapples in the refrigerated fruit section of your supermarket. The sweet-tart, savory taste and crunchy texture with a hint of heat from the jalapeño in the salsa complement rich poultry dishes like roast turkey, or barbecued chicken, pork, or as a side to roast or seared duck. If you don’t like cilantro, fresh mint would be a suitable substitute. Lesson learned: “When cooking in Texas, remember the Alamo and be open to cooking as the Mexicans do.”

Mango and Tomato Salad

I had some grape tomatoes and mango that had to be eaten, so I did some research. Tomatoes and mango, who knew?! It turns out tomato and mango salad with lime and fish sauce is a traditional Filipino side dish and numerous western chefs have already paired the two fruits in multiple recipes. After researching multiple recipes this is what I came up with. Juicy, sweet-and-tart, savory, and if you add feta, with a touch of creamy-saltiness, this colorful surprisingly satisfying and refreshing side dish for summer grilled dishes or seafood is also the perfect side-dish for Pan Seared Steak with Mushroom Risotto. My beta-tasters were skeptical at first but then came back for seconds! Enjoy!

Serves 4
Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh diced mango

• 1 cup grape tomatoes halved

• 1/8 cup, finely chopped red onion

• 1 tablespoon cubanelle pepper (or 1 teaspoon of jalapeño if you want heat)

• 8 basil leaves

• 1+ tablespoon lime juice (to taste)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese (optional)

Preparation:

1. Mix the mango, tomatoes, and cubanelle.

2. Mix the lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper; pour over the salad and mix gently.

3. Adjust the lime juice to your taste.

4. If using feta, add the crumbled feta.

5. Tear or roughly chop the basil leaves and gently fold them into the salad.

6. Serve immediately.

https://food52.com/recipes/12821-simplified-mango-and-tomato-salad

https://www.manilaspoon.com/2020/05/ensaladang-mangga-filipino-mango-salad.html

Thai Cucumber Carrot Salad →

Slightly sweet and sour with a bit of briney heat, this versatile, colorful Thai inspired salad pairs with meat, fish, or poultry. Try it as a flavorful alternative to your usual tossed salad. It might become a regular feature in your salad repertoire.

Serves 4
Ingredients:

Photo c. foodblogchef 2020

• 1 tablespoon fish sauce

• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

• 1 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (if you don’t have rice wine vinegar, substitute 1 tablespoon more of lime juice)

• 1 clove garlic finely grated

• 2 teaspoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon lime zest

• 1⁄2-1 small jalapeño, seeded and minced

• 1 cucumber seeded cut into ¼ thick half-rounds

• 4 tablespoons red bell pepper coarsely chopped (optional)

• 1 medium carrot peeled and julienned (or sliced diagonally into thin slices)

• thinly sliced red onion for garnish, or two tablespoons chopped red onion tossed in the salad with dressing (optional)

• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro

• 1⁄4 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped

Directions:

1. Whisk the first 7 ingredients (fish sauce through jalapeño) in a large bowl.

2. Cut off the ends of the cucumber and slice in half lengthwise. Use a small spoon to scoop out the seeds. Peel the cucumber halves and cut each half into ¼ inch half-rounds; toss in the dressing.

3. Add the chopped red pepper to the dressing and toss.

4. Peel the carrot and trim off the ends. Julienne or slice the carrot diagonally into thin slices; toss with the rest of the salad.

5. Either chop the red onion and add to the salad and dressing, or alternatively, cut a red onion lengthwise in half and then in half again horizontally. Cut very thin slices off the onion for a garnish.

6. Set aside the dressed salad for about an hour, stirring occasionally; refrigerate if marinating for longer than 2 hours.

7. Transfer to a serving bowl, or plate individually. (Optional presentation: place a leaf of lettuce on individual plates and top with the Thai salad, or toss the Thai salad with crisp baby green leaf lettuce and drizzle with leftover dressing.)

8. Sprinkle with cilantro and peanuts.

Adapted from: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/thai-cucumber-salad-peanuts