Check out this dressing idea! I think it’s such an amazing and novel (to me, anyway) concept. I never thought of using canned pears in juice as the basis for a salad dressing. It’s great though because there’s hardly any fat, but it’s filled with flavor potential. As I noted below, the dressing was slightly disappointing, but I am not going to give up on the concept altogether.

Mixed Salad with Vanilla-Pear Vinaigrette and Toasted Walnuts
From Cooking Light Magazine’s December 2005 Issue
Makes 8 servings

Dressing:
1 (15-ounce) can pear halves in juice, undrained
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of ground red pepper

Salad:
1 cup vertically sliced red onion
2 (10-ounce) packages Mediterranean-style salad
2/3 cup Vanilla-Pear Vinaigrette
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

To prepare dressing, drain pears, reserving 1/3 cup pear juice. Combine pears, juice, vinegar, and remaining ingredients in a blender; process until smooth. Yield: About 2 cups.

To prepare salad, combine onion and lettuce mix in a large bowl. Add Vanilla-Pear Vinaigrette, and toss well. Sprinkle with walnuts.

My Notes:

• The dressing tasted fabulous straight out of the blender. But I found it to be rather underwhelming and bland on the salad. Next time, I think I’ll add some olive oil and maybe a clove of garlic. I think the olive oil might help the dressing stick to the lettuce leaves more. Any other suggestions for souping up this great dressing idea would be much appreciated. Just leave a comment.
• Blue cheese would be a nice addition, if you like cheese in your salads. I really do, but I don’t think it’s essential for this recipe.