Roquefort Pear Salad Recipe

Awesome! Have made this several times now since I found it almost a year ago, and it never fails to get rave reviews, out of the 80 or so recipes I have tried off of this site, this has been by far the most successful! Instead of tossing the salad, I layer it as pictured on a large serving plate, b/c I think it looks so striking that way. FYI - Roquefort is a type of blue cheese, so it can be easily substituted with your favorite blue. I buy a good Danish Blue from Trader Joes. For lettuce I use 1 and 1/2 of the 10 oz. size bags of mixed greens...perfect amt. of lettuce. I use bosc pears, I find that they have good crunch that compliments the rest of the salad. Use red onion instead of green for color. I omit the avocado, unneccesary and browns fast, which isn't helpful if you are traveling with this salad. The dressing...is absolutely amazing. I always use dijon mustard for extra "tang". Double the dressing, and please use the red wine vinegar, as the recipe states! Don't sub in balsamic, it is much stronger than red wine and the taste would be off. The only other thing I do differently is add more carmelized pecans. BIGGEST CRUCIAL TIP: To properly carmelize your pecans, add 1-2 Tbsp. water to the pecans and sugar. This helps melt the sugar evenly over the pecans. If you do not add the water, the sugar may burn, or you will end up with rock hard sugar pieces that will break your teeth! Enjoy, if a salad can be considered phenomenal, this is it!

This is my new favorite salad. I made some changes. I used honey mustard, reduced salt in half ( when i made first time I followed recipe and between salt and vinegar I found flavor too salty) and most importantly, after caramelizing pecans I placed them NOT on waxed paper, I Used silicone baking mat instead. I oiled mat before placing pecans with avocado oil spray and I found it to be easiest way to remove pecans afterwards . When I made this recipe first time I used to waxed paper and I had little bit hard time getting nuts after

Excellent. Doubled the dressing. Recommend using 6 oz of good evoo to 4 oz of red wine vinegar. Gives the dressing more snap and the extra acidity the vinegar provides is magic with the blue cheese. Use red onion instead of green. Avocado unnecessary. Would recommend doubling the blue cheese or roquefort to 11 oz. or so. Pralines were a nice accoutrement. Also added 2 lbs of chicken tenderloins for protein. Super yummy

Yummy, yummy, yummy! My husband and I like to use pears in salads when tomatoes aren’t in season and this was perfect. I’m lazy so, instead of making pralines, I bought a praline mix at the bulk store. Also, I’m not mad about blue cheese so I replaced it with Cambozola, which we thought worked really well. Finally, my avocado was a tad too ripe for nice dicing so I just threw the good bits in with the rest of the dressing ingredients and whirred it all together. A keeper!

I’ve make this salad every Thanksgiving by my family’s request. I use a spring mix salad and substitute the yellow mustard for Dijon mustard. I never caramelize the pecans, just use them raw. Everyone loves it! Thanks for the recipe!

I’ve made this salad several times and honestly could eat it every day! Perfect blend of flavors when the recipe is followed. Hot tip though, use parchment paper to place your carmelized pecans on it you’ll be picking wax paper off your pecans forever! Nothing sticks to parchment paper (love it!)

Loved it. Subbed honey for sugar and didn't caramelize pecans. Everyone that I've shared it with loves it too.

I balked at the thought of having to caramelize pecans, but the results were so good, I even "held back a few" to snack on for later. I added a teaspoon of water as it was taking forever for the sugar to melt. Once it gets going, keep a close watch as it quickly can turn to the burnt sugar stage! It is the crispy sweet pecans and soft pears that go so well together in this salad. I found the ratio of vinegar a bit high, so will cut back to just 2Tablespoons or else use a good quality balsamic vinegar, which is sweeter and less tart. For 4 dinner guest servings, I bought an organic hydroponic head of butter lettuce, broke it into 4 equal quarters, and flattened each portion on individual salad plates. Sprinkle on the green onion, pears, lay a fan of avocado slices, crumble the cheese and pecans and top, and drizzle with the dressing.

Everyone liked it! I forgot the green onions, but Looking back... I’m not sure it fit. Also (full confession) I cheated and bought some candies pecans instead of making them! Pears and avocados are unpredictable if not ripe when you buy them. I doctored the pears because they were in the unready side. (I microwaved them with sugar a sprinkle of salt and a touch of honey after they were chopped) they were still a bit boring but what can you do I had an event to bring to!! As for the avocados, the host had some that were ripe, so I traded.

I made this for a fall festival. Everyone loved it! I added a teaspoon of good quality maple extract and used brown sugar instead of white for the dressing. I didn’t bother doing anything with the pecans. I subbed finely chopped red onion for the green and reduced the quantity by half. I added about 1/3 cup craisins to make up for the lack of sweetened pecans. They added a nice pop of color!

How can you explain the perfect marriage of sweet and salty, crunchy and soft-- ummm! This is my favorite salad- I've been making it for over 10 years. It's also a party favorite. Easy to make- you can buy pecans that are already caramelized if you want to save time, but following the recipe is best. Enjoy!

So simple, yet tastes gourmet.

Bro, flavor town just called and I answered.

It turned out even better than I hoped.

I’ll be sharing this with everyone I know.

I loved this, I didn't have Roquefort on hand so I subbed with small chunks of brie. I added a handful of raisins too. It was amazing!!!!

Great recipe! The tang of the dressing perfectly compliments the creaminess of the blue cheese. I have used walnuts and tart apples in place of pecans and pears with good results.

Hi -sounds delicious, where can you get Roquefort cheese in the U.S.?

How can you explain the perfect marriage of sweet and salty, crunchy and soft-- ummm! This is my favorite salad- I've been making it for over 10 years. It's also a party favorite. Easy to make- you can buy pecans that are already caramelized if you want to save time, but following the recipe is best. Enjoy!

My book club loved this! I cut pears and avocados into bite- sized pieces just before tossing and the added pecans UN-tossed on top. Very pretty and very gourmet!