Blue Cheese, Pear, and Walnut Autumn Salad

Today's delicious recipe and #TurkeyDayHacks are brought to you by Bounty.

I'm a member of the #QuickerPickerUpper Crew. All opinions and recipe are mine.

Add this Blue Cheese, Pear, and Walnut Autumn Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette to your 

Thanksgiving dinner menu for a delicious healthy option that all of your guests will rave about.

I'm sure a healthy salad may not be the first thing on your list of side dishes for Thanksgiving. But, honestly, this salad packs a punch of flavors that scream Thanksgiving. The citrus from the orange, combined with the cranberry sauce is just the quintessential Thanksgiving "taste". And having something a bit lighter to balance out all of the heavier starchy dishes on your table is a fabulous idea for all of your guests to enjoy. Check out the recipe below.

I love that pears are the star of this salad. Besides the cranberry and orange juice combo that I mentioned above, the pears really say "AUTUMN! YUM!". And I really love Bosc Pears in this one. My first job when I turned 16 was at a fancier grocery store in Austin called Simon David (they're no longer there, y'all...sniff, sniff). They had more varieties of fruits and veggies than I had ever seen or heard of...like Doughnut Peaches, Star Fruit, and Bosc Pears. I guess Bosc Pears aren't all that fancy, but I grew up in an Anjou household...the land of Bosc was completely foreign to me. I started having a Bosc Pear on my break every day and I fell in love with them (not going to lie to you...I chased that pear with a fancy french croissant from the bakery every now and then...ahem).

But the Bosc Pears in this salad are just perfection...especially since they're dipped in fresh squeezed orange juice! Plus...pears and walnuts? Yes, please. And blue cheese...of course.

The cranberry sauce that's in the dressing is Thanksgiving perfection.

Blue Cheese, Pear, and Walnut Autumn Salad

with Cranberry Vinaigrette 

Click here for printable recipe.

Salad Ingredients:

• 2 bunches Romaine Lettuce
• 2 sliced Bosc Pears
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice (about half an orange)
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
• 1/3 cup fresh cranberries (optional)
• 1/3 cup blue cheese crumbles
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup canned whole-berry cranberry sauce
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice (about 1 orange)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Stevia (can substitute 1 tablespoon brown sugar if you’re feeling naughty)
• 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

Directions:

Add ingredients for dressing into blender and pulse to blend together. Set aside.

After washing lettuce, stack leaves on top of one another and coarsely chop. Place in a

large salad bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of orange juice into a shallow dish. Place pear slices

into orange juice to coat, and prevent browning. Layer pears into salad. Add in onion slices and fresh cranberries (if desired). 

Add dressing and toss to coat. 

Top with blue cheese crumbles and toasted walnuts. Serve immediately.

Click here for printable recipe.

I also wanted to share one of my favorite Turkey Day Hack to make your meal-prep even easier. I loathe going to the grocery store on the days surrounding Thanksgiving...it's such a mad house. I shop a few days ahead of time. To keep vegetables fresh, I use a roll of Bounty Paper towels. My favorite way to store the Romaine Lettuce that I used in this recipe is simple, but will make your lettuce last for like two weeks! I learned this when I was in a produce co-op a few years ago and it was so helpful.

Wash the lettuce completely. Then lay each piece of lettuce out on the paper towels, right next to each other in a line.

Then roll up the lettuce in your Bounty Paper Towels. Once it's totally rolled up, store in a zip-top bag. You can pull out a few clean leaves at a time as you need them. This is a great way to make sure your lettuce never goes bad too quickly.

A couple of my other favorite Turkey Day Hacks?

Use a moist Bounty paper towel over a bowl of hard brown sugar, then microwave to soften the brown sugar. You can also place cooked bacon on Bounty paper towels to soak up the excess grease...perfect for use in your casseroles and other dishes with bacon. 

What is YOUR favorite Turkey Day Hack?

Neglect your chores like me and don't miss a thing:

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