Pear Salad

The salad has the perfect balance of sweet and tart, and I love the blend of textures. It's one of those easy to throw together recipes that is set to impress everyone at the dinner party.

Everyone loves a good strawberry salad but fall needs its own seasonal salad and this should be it!

Try it soon while pears are in their seasonal prime! 

A Delicious Autumn Spinach Salad

I knew from the beginning though that I would love it because I used my super delicious, super popular Orange Poppy Seed Dressing from my Cranberry Avocado Chicken and Spinach Salad.

The flavors, the colors, the textures, the sweet, the salty, the tang it's all spot on perfect in my opinion.

You get those tender spinach leaves laden with crisp sweet apples, bright tangy oranges and those soft and juicy mellow pears.

Then you add toasted crunchy pecans and salty feta to that blend and finally finish it all off with the most irresistible Orange Poppy Seed Dressing!

Brussels Sprout Salad with Pears and Bacon

With this delicious salad you get those thinly shredded Brussels sprouts that have just the perfect crunch, along with soft sweet pears, salty crispy bacon, a slight bite from the shallots, nutty crunchy pecans, creamy tangy gorgonzola cheese, plus just a hint of herby freshness from the parsley.

And it's all finished off with a bright lemon bacon maple dressing. Talk about one delicious salad! And something new for a change.

It's a salad that will give you one more reason to look forward to fall every year and all those delicious pears this time of year.

This salad is the perfect reminder that everything is better with bacon. But really, I do love the way the pears and bacon compliment each other here.

It's a match meant to be and a flavor combination I should be using more often.

Ingredients Needed for the Salad

• Bacon
• Fresh Brussels sprouts
• Fresh parsley
• Pecans
• Pears
• Gorgonzola cheese
• Shallot

Ingredients Needed for the Dressing

How to Make Brussels Sprout Salad

Can I Make This Salad in Advance?

Once you add the dressing the salad will hold up well for about an hour - but keep in mind the pears edges can brown so if you want to add dressing to soften up the Brussels sprouts a little first just wait to add those pears until later.

You can definitely shred the Brussels sprouts one day in advance though and make the dressing a day in advance (then gently rewarm as the bacon grease will solidify.

Can I Use a Different Kind of Cheese?

Goat cheese would work well hear or feta would be another good option.

What Should I Serve with This Salad?

• Garlic Roasted Chicken Thighs
• Roasted Chicken
• Slow Cooker Rotisserie Chicken
• Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
• Dinner Rolls

The Perfect Thanksgiving Salad

This would be a perfect salad to serve at a party or at Thanksgiving but it's also so delicious that you should be waiting for a celebration to roll around.

You should be making it today. And enjoying every delicious bite!

Pear Spinach Salad with Cranberry-Orange Vinaigrette

Have you ever tried adding fresh cranberries to your salad dressing before? It adds such a bright flavor and it's the perfect way to use up some of the extra cranberries you may have left over from your favorite cranberry orange bread or scones, or holiday cranberry sauce.

I often just freeze my left over cranberries and add a few to smoothies but I wanted to try something new with them, so I came up with this Cranberry-Orange Vinaigrette.

At first, I was just going to go with a cranberry (only) vinaigrette but I felt it just needed a little more to it and orange always goes with cranberry. That bit of orange zest just completes the dressing.

I also think the honey and sugar are a must because fresh cranberries can be sooo tart. Even though it is a rather small amount used here they still are quite bold so that little bit of added sugar and honey really tones them down.

Of course you don't have to make this exact salad, really this recipe is more about the dressing. Although it is a delicious salad if you want to try out the blend I liked to pair with this vinaigrette.

We all have our favorites that are on repeat every year but it's always fun to see something new grace the table.

This is a smaller size salad, which feeds about 4 people as a side so just keep that in mind if you are preparing it for the holidays and a bigger group.

You can stretch it and just add more spinach though as well, I just like a lot of the mix-ins (if I make it seem like ice cream and refer to them as "mix-ins" it makes salad seem that much more exciting right :)).

Another thing to keep in mind is that the pears are like apples, or even fresh basil. They brown rather quickly once sliced so just wait to cut them until you are just ready to serve the salad.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful fall season! I love fall but I'm really hating this 5:00 darkness. Which is why we are setting up our Christmas tree tonight. This salad and my Christmas tree make early dark nights that much better. Try it soon!

More Salad Recipes You'll Love!

• Chicken Caesar Salad
• Best Greek Salad
• Ritzy Green Salad (a must have recipe)

I first tested a salad which was similar with bacon and believe it or not bacon just didn't seem to have a place with this type of salad. It's probably the first time I didn't like bacon in something. I just love the fruitiness and sweetness of this salad without the overwhelming distraction of salty pork. I do however love the slight tang of the feta and depth of flavor from toasting the the nuts paired with the sweetness of this salad, they just balances things out. I also really enjoyed the faint honey flavor in the vinaigrette which I felt brought the salad and the dressing together while it's gentle sweetness toned down the acidity of the dressing.

It's kind of like pizza crust is just a blank canvas and you just need to decide what you are going to paint on it. But honestly, we are all obsessed with pizza so why do we keep buying and making the same kinds over and over again? Let's add in a little pizzazz to these pizzas!