Pear & Gorgonzola Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

This is a post from my old blog circa 2014 but I still love this vinaigrette, so I’ll include it below - complete with amazing iPhone 5 photography.

So this isn't the most healthful of salads (save your kale and quinoa for another day), but boy is it tasty. I love salad (mostly because of the dressing possibilities) and lately had a hankering for the Arugula Pear salad at Pizzicato Pizza here in Portland. I've recreated this salad, and have developed an even better dressing (in my humble opinion...).

The salad is quite simple:

1 package of arugula, spinach, spring mix - whatever greens you have on-hand *NOTE* I can not recommend iceberg or romaine lettuce for this salad.

1 pear, sliced thinly - I enjoy Bosc, but any pear will do - just make sure it's ripe. Oh yeah, here's more than you ever wanted to know about pears. You're welcome.

1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola - I was going to make a cheesy comment, but I changed my mind. Oh wait.

1/4 cup candied walnuts - you can purchase prepackaged, but making a small batch is so easy. I'll post a more in-depth recipe soon, but the idea is to heat sugar in a pan over med-hi and wait a bit until it starts to melt. Then add your walnuts (raw or dry roasted unsalted are best) and move them continuous until all of the nuts get an even coating. Don't use too much sugar (1 tablespoon per cup of nuts is more than enough) or you might break a tooth. Or you can buy the prepackaged variety, I guess.

This photo isn't very pretty, but I recently purchased this mini food processor and I'm quite pleased with it. If you're like me and make a lot of salad dressings (I know, you're shocked) then I would highly recommend purchasing one.

And so without further ado, I give you...

Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons honey (I prefer orange blossom honey)
1-2 tablespoons spicy dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

You can play with the quantities of mustard and balsamic, suiting to taste. Combine all ingredients in a jar with a lid (or food processor/blender) and shake until ingredients are fully emulsified. This dressing is tasty on any salad, really. It's especially delicious on an Italian summer salad with tomatoes, basil and olives.

Combine all salad ingredients and add enough dressing to coat. This salad would be great with some grilled chicken or as an accompaniment to something more substantial (ahem, pizza).

Let me know what you think!