This is not just another summer salad. It is versatile, adaptable and modifiable. It can be made with so many varying ingredients that it never gets boring. A little fancy, a little comforting, it is a delight to your taste buds as well as to those of any guests you may be hosting. It is the summer salad my husband and I have been living on since heat indexes at home eased into triple digits. I am betting you will be inclined to follow our lead and come to rely on it just as heavily once you taste it.
Delicious in a way that is life-affirming, there is nothing more satisfying on a hot July day than this cold, colorful melange of tender greens, sweet seasonal fruits, lightly toasted nuts and crumbled cheese.
I swear, it cools you from the inside out.
I gravitate to it most during these hottest weeks on the calendar when I have all my favorite and long-anticipated fruits solidly on the brain, but it is truly pleasing any time of the year.
There is a formula to it that appears to be foolproof. I have tested its foolproof-ness with unerring success over the years with combinations that upon first consideration might not sound so winning, but thus far have never disappointed.
My latest, “Nectarine and Sand Pear with Walnuts and Blue Cheese,” is just one more lofty sounding compilation I will add to my list of highly-recommended. Another highfalutin sounding name for what you will find to be a reliable and easy alternative to your old, standby, not-so-exciting-anymore weeknight green salad.
“Sand pears,” also known as “hard pears,” are an easy to grow, common pear found in backyards and farms locally. With varieties designed to handle our typical temperatures and types of soils, these Asian pear descendants are crisp and usually used more for canning or making preserves than for eating fresh. I grew up eating them off my grandmother’s backyard tree and have a fondness for them that stretches beyond just how they taste.
Their ability to transport me to Pop and Grammy’s backyard in north Mississippi— to the edge of the pasture, to the loyalty of horses and the steadfastness and sturdy dependability of the ladder Grammy kept leaning against the trunk of her pear tree. While impressively large, her tree had a shape that seemed rendered by a child’s hand, and the taste of the pears I ate there over the years of my life imprinted on my taste buds.
Lately, as I increasingly appreciate connection, I have been especially enjoying their contribution to this salad.
So, the magic formula is this: Choose two seasonal fruits, a cheese (feta, blue or goat cheese) and a nut (walnuts, sliced almonds or pecans). These are the changeable elements. The other ingredients stay the same as does the dressing, which let me say is an exquisitely balanced vinaigrette made with apple cider vinegar, raw honey and extra-virgin olive oil - a veritable health-giving trifecta on its own. The dressing makes the salad. It is what takes the risk out of making bold fruit choices as it is a magical elixir able to harmonize every conceivable combination. It is bright, lively and manages to unify any potentially disparate ingredients you may select.
I have a few fruit-cheese-nut combinations that I think are especially notable, but there is no ceiling to what you can create. It just invariably works. Give in to your whims and cravings and buy a little extra at the farmer’s market; you will be able to use what you have on hand to create an endless rotation of healthy, gorgeous bowls filled with exactly what your body desires after another long, otherwise unbearably hot day.
Nectarine and Sand Pear Salad with Walnuts and Blue Cheese
Ingredients
2 bunches or 2 regular clamshells mixed greens
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or sliced almonds, toasted
“2 fruits” sliced thinly (see combination ideas below)
1/4 red onion, peeled, sliced paper thin
1/3 cup crumbled feta, goat or blue cheese
Salt
Pepper
Dressing:
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 shallot, peeled
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Directions
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Place all salad ingredients in bowl.
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Make dressing: Using an immersion blender or a small food processor, add all dressing ingredients except olive oil and blend.
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Pour in olive oil last. Blend well.
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Dress salad right before serving. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook's Notes
“2 Fruits” summer combinations:
-Pears, nectarines, peaches, or any two stone fruits
-Avocado with grapefruit or orange sections
-Any two berries or a berry and cherry
-Cherries and halved cherry tomatoes
-Chopped yellow tomatoes and golden raisins
