Strawberry Pear Walnut Salad

I've been asked by a couple of folks now about this blog. Truthfully I haven't updated it in a year, largely Fern stopped participating and so I saw no need to keep a separate blog for recipes. I'll try to post there now too, though. I'll probably post them both places for now to decide what I like.

So without further ado, a salad. This is per salad. I don't usually make a whole bowl of it because there are just two of us so you'll need to tweak quantities if you want to prepare it to serve a whole family.

Strawberry Pear Walnut Salad

1.5 cups mixed baby greens
3-5 strawberries, washed sliced thinly
8-10 walnut halves
1/2 Pear, cleaned and sliced thinly
1 TBS Parmesan cheese

Toss greens together and top with fruits, nuts and cheese.

Optional I candy the walnuts first in a pan with a couple tablespoons of yogurt spread (like margarine but better) and a couple tablespoons sugar substitute. Heat spread and sugar together in a pan til melted, add walnuts, and heat 5-10 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently to coat walnuts.

Optional This salad is also good with just strawberries or just pears. In truth, with both the pears and the strawberries, it almost has too many flavors and textures going on but I enjoy it because it's an enjoyable way for me to get my fruits and veggies in.

Optional Try it with apples instead of pears. Or try Pecans instead of Walnuts.

Cranberry Dressing
Dressing Recipe from Weight Watchers
1/2 cup canned cranberry sauce, whole-berry or jellied
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste

In a medium bowl, whisk together cranberry sauce, vinegar, water, oil and mustard; season to taste with salt and pepper.

Note: We used white wine vinegar because I had no red wine vinegar and it worked just fine.

Review Todd liked the dressing, I thought it was a little too much. I liked the salad dry because the cheese, nuts and fruit added enough flavor. The dressing WAS good, I just didn't like it combined with the other elements. So maybe sample it before you toss your whole salad in it.