Pear and Pecan Salad

The Pear and Pecan salad recipe is my own creation prepared for Nut Weekned, a Polish food blog event hosted by Ela from My Best Food blog.

The first time I tried pecans was in Canada a few years ago. At first I wasn’t really impressed with them. Only later I discovered that pecans actually become very flavorful and tasty when toasted. In this salad recipe I coat the nuts with honey, maple syrup and spices and then toast them in the oven which makes them truly delicious. I usually prepare more of them as it's impossible to not to sneak a few before the salad is ready to serve ;-)

Pear and Pecans Salad

Serves 4

1 package red leaf curly lettuce
1 pear

FOR THE NUTS:
½ cup pecans
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ tbsp honey
½ tbsp maple syrup
¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/8 teaspoon black ground pepper
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350°F (170°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl combine the nuts with olive oil, honey, maple syrup and spices. Spread on prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occassionaly. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

FOR THE MAPLE DRESSING:
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Place all the dressing ingredients in a jar. Shake until well combined.

Wash and dry the lettuce, if the leaves are big tear them into pieces. Peel, core and cut the pear either in cubes or strips. Divide the lettuce leaves into four plates. Sprinkle with pieces of pear and nuts. Pour the maple dressing over the salad and serve immediately.

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Recipe in Polish:
Sałatka z gruszką i pekanami