Recipes by Zola - Roasted Pear and Spinach Salad

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Roasted Pear and Spinach Salad

Zola Gorgon

The Healthy Gift...

It's never too early to talk Christmas. If Wal-Mart can run a Christmas sale on toys then I can talk gift giving. Besides, my topic is FOOD!

For the people on your list that have everything they could ever want or need, give the healthy gift. Give pears. Give pears to yourself! You deserve them!

Want 24 percent of your recommended daily intake of fiber in one juicy package? Eat a pear!

Pears are low on the glycemic index so that means they are a healthy carbohydrate. That's hard to find in something so sweet. They also pack lots of Vitamin C and Potassium.

The trouble with pears is the whole ripening thing. Sometimes pears arrive feeling like rocks. I have a pear tree in my backyard and for years I was confused by when to pick the pears. They don't ripen on the tree. They go from rock to rotten in a wink. I pick them now when they are full-sized, and I've gotten much smarter about how to ripen them and how to tell when the ones in the store are ripe. I got "educated" at USA Pears.

Here are some fun facts that will help you with pear ripening.

You can tell when any pear at the store is ripe by pressing lightly with your thumb about a half inch below the stem. Don't press on the belly. That won't tell you a thing. If the pear has give up by the stem, it's ripe.

The reason is pears ripen from the inside out. Pears naturally produce their own ethylene (just like tomatoes and bananas) which triggers the ripening process. Store pears at room temperature for ripening. If you want to slow down the ripening process or they are already close to ripe and you don't want them to get too ripe, keep them in your refrigerator.

Don't pay attention to color to tell if they are ripe. That will throw you off with all but Bartlett pears. Bartletts start green and turn yellow. Winter pears like Anjou, Comice and others hardly change color, or don't change color at all, so use your thumb pressure by the stem to see which ones are ready to eat.

I designed this pear recipe to go with meat dishes. If you carve some turkey, slice some ham or grill up a pork tenderloin to go with this salad you'll have a full meal. This is a great leftover idea for the holidays. Healthy too.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola

Roasted Pear and Spinach Salad

Serves 4. Can be doubled

1 handful of baby spinach per person.
4 heaping tablespoons of boursin cheese (garlic and herb flavor). You can substitute goat cheese or blue cheese. Your choice.
2 cups of roasted walnut halves. You can roast the walnuts while you roast the pears.
Olive oil spray
3 Tbl of balsamic vinegar
3 Tbl of extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp of Dijon mustard
one teaspoon of fresh thyme, minced, or if you use dry thyme, use half that amount and crush it with your mortar and pestle.
One quarter teaspoon of black pepper
One light grating of sea salt.
4 ripe pears, washed.

Place a handful of spinach on each plate. (You are in control of portion size). Break up the cheese and sprinkle it over the spinach. Boursin is gooey but you can break off little blobs of cheese. They can be messy.

Put your walnuts in a roasting pan and spray lightly with olive oil. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a small mixing bowl put in vinegar, olive oil, mustard, thyme, pepper, and sea salt. Mix well.

Slice each pear into 4 pieces. Gently remove the stem and take a sharp knife to cut out the seeds and fibers in the middle of the pear. No need to peel the pears.

Place the pears in a roasting pan. Brush the pears thoroughly with half of the dressing mixture. Put the pears in the oven and along side put in your walnuts.

Roast pears for 6 minutes and then brush them with the second half of the dressing mixture. Roast for 6 to 8 minutes more until pears are soft. You can check by poking with a sharp knife. Remove the walnuts and the pears.

Place the hot pears on top of the cheese and spinach. This will melt the cheese and wilt some of the spinach. It's almost reminiscent of an exotic creamed spinach with these joyous pears on top. So lovely. Sprinkle the walnuts around and serve.

Send email to Zola at dinnerwithzola@hotmail.com.

This news arrived on: 10/22/2007

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