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Arugula salad with caramelized onions, brown sugar walnuts, pears, and crumbled Gorgonzola cheese. Healthy, delicious salad - perfect side dish for all kinds of main dishes!
I haven't posted a single Thanksgiving-related recipe this season, and what am I posting the night before the Thanksgiving Day? Not a recipe for stuffing, pie, pumpkin soup or potato gratin. No. I am posting a salad recipe. A Thanksgiving salad recipe - Arugula salad with caramelized onions, walnuts, pears, and Gorgonzola cheese. Who eats salads on Thanksgiving, you might ask?
Truth be told, I've been so busy for the last 2 weeks (but I won't mire you with details), that all of my Thanksgiving cooking this season will have to happen only on one single day, which is tomorrow. Besides, arugula seems to be a very much Thanksgiving type of green, isn't it? So, it's not too bad for a pre-Thanksgiving night. And, on a second thought, this arugula salad could be a great post-Thanksgiving detox meal, as well: you know, after eating too much turkey, it might not be a bad idea to just have a simple arugula salad for lunch the next day. So here it goes:
Brown Sugar Walnuts:
Caramelized Onions:
Sliced Pears:
Arugula salad with caramelized onions, walnuts, pears, and Gorgonzola cheese
Ingredients
Salad Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
- 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 tablespoon Honey
Salad Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion , thinly sliced
- a pinch of salt
- ½ cup walnuts
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 5 oz arugula
- 1 pear , thinly sliced
- ¼ cup Gorgonzola cheese , crumbled
Instructions
Salad Dressing:
- Mix vinegar with agave nectar, then add oil, whisking until emulsified.
How to caramelize onions:
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium size frying pan on medium-high heat. Add thinly sliced onions to the pan once oil gets very hot. Cook onions, stirring constantly, until they turn brown and caramelize to your liking, about 10-15 minutes. While caramelizing onions, add a pinch of salt to your taste.
How to caramelize walnuts:
- Heat 1 tablespoon butter in the medium frying pan on medium-high heat, add walnuts and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring, to coat the walnuts until caramelized. Allow them to cool.
Assemble salad:
- Add arugula leaves to a large salad bowl. Add caramelized walnuts and caramelized onions. Add the salad dressing and mix. Top with sliced pears and crumbled Gorgonzola cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This is so beautiful. Your're dish stimulating my appetite and my sense at the same time. Thank for this gorgeous and undeniable healthy dish.
How glorious - it's nice to see a little something light and green at this time of year, when everything is gearing itself towards stodge and fat-laden foods. I will definitely give this a go, except I might change the cheese for a Wensleydale or something sharp because I am not a blue cheese person! I will grab some salad leaves soon and get making this salad 🙂
Substitute Gorgonzola cheese with whichever one you like. Goat cheese would also go pretty well.
My parents and I now stay home for Thanksgiving and make our own meal - prime rib - but when we used to travel, I would have loved this salad for dinner. I don't eat any traditional Thanksgiving foods and I would have happily eaten all of this salad. Happy Thanksgiving!
Love the ingredients..we favor them too all together:)