Fennel, Blue Cheese, and Pear Salad

salad with pear, fennel, and blue cheese

Here’s a fall salad from the early days of my blog, updated and re-photographed. I’d combined the pears with fennel and blue cheese, and this time I added greens and walnuts. I eat a lot of pears all fall and winter in salads, with oatmeal or yogurt at breakfast, in desserts, or just plain out of hand.

When you’re using fennel in a salad you have two choices: raw or cooked. I like the aggressive anise flavor of raw fennel, but my family prefers it cooked, taming the fennel to a mellow sweetness. So this time I braised the fennel in olive oil.

Blue cheese and pears are always a good combination, and this time I had some lovely Cascadia Creamery Prairie Blue cheese on hand (it was not, however, vegetarian since it contained rennet). We got several Cascadia Creamery cheeses from their makers at our town’s street festival and I was sad when they were gone. If they come to the fair again next year I’ll stock up!

Cascadia Creamery Prairie Blue Cheese

Fennel, Blue Cheese and Pear Salad

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

40 mins

This salad with fennel, blue cheese, and pears makes a great start to a fall or winter meal.

Author: Mary

Recipe type: salad

Cuisine: American

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

For the dressing:

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. champagne vinegar
salt and pepper to taste.

For the salad:

1 large head lettuce, washed, spun dry, shredded or 6 oz. prepared baby salad greens
1 large or 2 small bulbs fennel or anise, quartered, pithy center removed, white bulbs sliced thinly, feathery tops discarded or saved for another purpose.
½ cup walnuts, chopped
2 pears, quartered, centers cut out, sliced into thin wedges.
3 oz. artisan blue cheese, crumbled

Instructions

Brown the fennel in olive oil in a large pan for about 20 minutes, salt to taste.
Toss washed, dried, and shredded lettuce with dressing ingredients.
Arrange salad greens on dinner plates.
Distribute browned fennel and chopped walnuts on top of greens.
Add pear slices and sprinkle the blue cheese on top.

pears with fennel and blue cheese fall salad, pears with fennel and blue cheese
Fall Salad Add-Ins: Apples, Walnuts, Dried Cherries, Blue Cheese I often make fall salads like this one. Starting with washed, shredded lettuce tossed with a simple home-made dressing, I add dried cherries, my son's favorite. Next come roughly chopped walnuts or pecans and a circle of sliced apples or pears. Sometimes I'll add small bits of fresh cheese, usually goat cheese. Tonight I used some of the fancy Saint Agur blue…
pear fennel blue cheese salad revised Good starter for a fall or winter meal.
Pear, fennel and blue cheese salad Pear, fennel and blue cheese salad