Nutty Pear Salad Recipes

CHICKEN SALAD STUFFED AVOCADO

Steps:

• Heat a pan over medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Season chicken breast with salt and pepper on both sides and cook in heated pan. Cover and cook 5-8 minutes on each side. Shred the chicken with 2 forks in a large bowl.
• Mix together the rest of the ingredients (except avocado and greens) in the bowl until well combined.
• Divide the romaine or spinach between each plate.
• Add a large scoop onto each avocado half and plate. Serve cold.
• Whenever I buy quinoa, I like to make a cup of it and store it in a tupperware for the week. It only takes about 15 minutes to make, but it's nice to have it already prepped and ready to go.
• I usually microwave for about a minute the frozen roasted corn. The rest of the ingredients are fresh so there's not much prep or cooking involved, beside the egg.
• How to make a poached egg: bring 2 inches of water to a boil in a medium sized saucepan. Crack the egg into a small dish. It's important that you don't crack it right into the pot. It'll go all over the place and it won't be pretty. You need the dish to gently lower the egg close to the water as you drop it in. Turn the heat down to medium and cover leaving a little crack open on the side. The water should still be bubbling a bit but not full on boiling. It only takes about 2 min if you want the yolk to be runny. If you've watched a youtube video or read about how to make poached eggs before, maybe you've seen that some say you need to swirl the water around in a circle. Not necessary! I've never done that. Small pieces of the egg white might scatter but the majority of the egg stays together in one place. To take it out of the water you'll need a big spoon or spatula that has holes in it to drain the water. Gently pick it up out of the water and drop it on top of your dish. Make sure your dish is all ready to go except for the egg so you don't have to transfer the egg twice.
• Enjoy your brunch bowl! Once you've got the gist of it, start coming up with your own creative versions!
• Saute the raw kale in a pan with olive oil over medium heat. It will wilt down the way spinach does but not as much. This should only take about 5 minutes. Then throw in the tomatoes and let them warm up in the pan for a couple more minutes.
• Mix the tahini with a tablespoon of water in a jar and stir together with a fork. This is just to make the tahini a little more runny so that it can coat all the kale well. Toss the kale and tomatoes with the tahini in a big bowl and top with pine nuts when served.
• Cook the squash first since it will take the longest. If using Delicata Squash: Cut in half the long way and scrape out the seeds and guts and discard. Place in a pan face down with a little olive oil on the bottom to prevent sticking. Roast in 350 degree oven for about 20 min. Use a knife to get it out of the skin once it's cooked and cut into cubes.
• If using Butternut Squash: Peel and cut in half. Cut into small cubes. Discard the seeds. Toss in olive oil and roast in 350 degree oven for about 30 min.
• While Squash is cooking, place 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups chicken broth and bring to a boil. Turn heat down, cover and simmer for 12 minutes. When done, all the broth should be absorbed and the quinoa will turn fluffy. Save the extra as an already prepared base for meals the rest of the week!
• Sautee kale in a pan with olive oil and salt.
• Toss all ingredients together and top with balsamic vinegar and more olive oil if needed. S & P to taste.
• In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. In a large bowl, add the mixed greens and prosciutto. Add the dressing and toss together until it is well coated. Finely grate the parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the top. Top with the toasted pine nuts and toss all ingredients together.
• Dissolve the yeast in ½ cup warm water and let sit 10 min until bubbly. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt and yeast mixture and remaining water. Mix well with a wooden spoon and then use your hands. Then knead by hand on a floured work surface for a few minutes.
• Put the dough mixture into a well oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit out for about 1.5 hrs until it's risen to double it's size.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Oil a baking sheet and form the dough into a circle or oval onto the baking sheet. Use a rolling pin to make it thin. Dimple the top all over with the tip of a utensil or your finger. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and rosemary. Bake for 15-20 min until it's just starting to get barely golden. Careful not to overbake. Slice with a pizza cutter into 8 slices. Serve with the punch salad.
• Combine the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and whisk together until well combined. I stored mine in an empty sriracha bottle because I like the squirt top. That's how I got it to drizzle so pretty over the salad in the pictures. Pretty fancy looking, right? This also prevents you from dumping way too much dressing over your salad. Keep it in the fridge.
• Cook the turkey bacon in a pan or in the oven, whichever you prefer. I like to cook it in a pan until it's crispy.
• Spiralize the cucumber into a bowl. I never realized how much water is in cucumber until I did this. I had a little puddle of green water at the bottom of my bowl! Drain that out.
• Chop the grape/cherry tomatoes in half. Dice up the avocado and lastly chop up the chives.
• To your plate, lay a bed of arugula then put the spiralized cucumber on top of that. Then add the rest of the ingredients and drizzle with ranch dressing. Enjoy your pretty salad!
• Cook quinoa according to package. Tip: I use chicken broth instead of water to add more flavor to the quinoa. While you let the quinoa cool, chop the veggies. For this recipe I like everything chopped very small, that way you get a lot of everything in every bite. Slice the cucumbers and chop the slices again and again till they are pretty small. Finely chop the tomatoes and onions too.
• Definitely use fresh vs dry parsley for this recipe. It makes SUCH a difference! I grow parsley in my tiny little urban garden in uptown so you don't have an excuse to try it! It's cheaper and so nice to have available all the time. Finely chop the parsley as well.

PEAR AND NUT SALAD

Steps:

• Whisk together in a small bowl, half the blue cheese with the cream cheese and milk until well combined. If you find the dressing too thick add a little more milk. May be made ahead and refrigerated. (If you buy the crumbled blue cheese you will need a 175g package).
• Place 1 cup of the mesclun mix on individual salad plates.
• Cut pears in half, remove core and cut into wedges.
• Arrange pears on top of greens.
• Drizzle dressing over pears. Top with remaining blue cheese, nuts and pepper.