Gorgonzola Pear Salad with Candied Pecans – we LOVE this salad.

After a title like: gorgonzola pear salad with candied pecans, you know this is going to be a good salad. If you’re trying to make better food choices this year, this salad is a great way to eat better without giving up any flavor. The one thing you might need to omit are the candied pecans if you’re on a health kick, but you could still toast the pecans. Either way…this salad is sooo good! This recipe is a family favorite.

Here’s the ingredient lineup…a little visual for your grocery shopping.

Have you ever made toasted candied pecans before? They’re so good! We eat them like candy around here.
For the candied pecans, you just place the pecans in a hot pan on high heat (no liquid) and you have to stay with them, constantly turning them around (now is not the time to walk away…they can burn easily). Once you start to smell the pecans (the aroma is amazing), then you add the 1/4 cup sugar. Constantly stirring once again. Watch the sugar turn to a liquid state and toss the pecans all around in the syrupy goodness, until they’re all coated. Then remove pecans from the hot pan and let them cool. Keep them at room temp and add them into the salad at the very end, just right before tossing the salad all together.

I love making salad dressings from scratch, because you don’t need to guess what’s in it, and you don’t need to worry about added preservatives.

You can do liquid mustard for this or dry mustard. I’ve tried both types, and both work.

Here’s the lineup of prepped and ready to toss ingredients. It’s such a colorful salad.

Just toss with your homemade vinaigrette! It’s so delish!

For your viewing please…the original photos from 2009:

You can make this salad (without the dressing) ahead of time (maybe a few hours) I would not refrigerate the dressing. Toss everything together just right before serving, and enjoy!

Gorgonzola Pear Salad With Candied Pecans

Gorgonzola pear salad with candied pecans is a meal in itself. This is a family favorite recipe.

Author Kami - NoBiggie.net

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients:

1 head red leaf or green leaf lettuce preferably red leaf if it's available, chopped, rinsed and dried
3-4 pears sliced and peeled - optional
1 package gorgonzola crumbles
1 avocado peeled and sliced
1 purple onion sliced thin
1 package pecan pieces
1/4 cup sugar

Salad Dressing Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon mustard
1 clove garlic minced (or garlic powder)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Start by making the toasted candied pecans: place the pecans in a hot pan on high heat (no liquid). You have to stay with them, constantly turning them around. Once you start to smell the pecans (the aroma is amazing) you can turn the heat off, but leave the pan on the hot burner. Now add the 1/4 cup sugar. Constantly stirring once again. Watch the sugar turn to a liquid state and toss the pecans all around in the syrupy goodness, until they're all coated. Then remove them from the hot pan to let them cool. Keep them at room temp and add them into the salad at the very end, just right before tossing the salad all together.
Prep all the fruits and vegetables: peel and slice the pears, avocado and onion. Chop, wash and dry the red leaf lettuce.
Right before serving toss all prepped ingredients together, give the homemade dressing a good shake to mix it up and toss the salad with dressing. Serve.

Making This Recipe? Tag us on Instagram: @NoBiggie using the hashtag #NoBiggieRecipes, so we can see what you are making in the kitchen!