Autumn Salad with Caramelized Pears

Caramelized Pear Salad, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

I can't believe it, but I'm about to blog what I ate for dinner. . . . tonight! Quick huh? Less than two hours ago I was gobbling this tantalizing salad down. It may seem odd to some, but I like salads in the fall and winter. Sure, they're fairly synonymous with warmer seasons like summer, but, add the right ingredients and you can have a hearty, warm, chilly day worthy salad. One of my favorites has large chunks of slow oven roasted pumpkin, kale, and lentils. One of my other autumn salad go to's is this salad. A slice of bread, oven toasted with olive oil and parmesan is topped with peppery baby arugula, chunks of english cucumber, thin slices of sweet red onion, crowned with gorgonzola and pears that have been slowly caramelized in brown sugar and cider vinegar. Warm bread on the bottom, hot sweet and tangy pears on top with a lot of good stuff in between. It's simple to whip up in 20 minutes or less, it's warm, and it's exciting (to my tastebuds at least!)

Alright readers, back to my hot mug of chamomile, Property Virgins and Top Chef I go. . .

Recipe: Caramelized Pear Autumn Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 thin, long slices of artisan bread
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
2 cups Baby Arugula
Sweet Red Onion thinly sliced (use as much or as little as you'd like)
1/2 English Cucumber diced or julienned
1 Organic Anjou or Bosc Pear thinly sliced (I like the skin, that's why I buy organic, but if you prefer, you can 'skin' the pear)
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 Tablespoon Dark Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cider Vinegar
Gorgonzola crumbled to garnish

Directions:

1. First make your bread. Brush both sides of slices with olive oil, sprinkle one side with parmesan cheese, bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 5 minutes or until cheese has melted and the bread is golden and toasted.
2. While breads are cooking caramelize your pears. Heat a small pan on medium/high, add butter, brown sugar, and pears. Allow to cook 'tossing' (I flip the pan around) for 5 minutes. Once the mixture is nice and hot throw in your apple cider vinegar. Continue to caramelize for another 5-10 minutes until pears have browned up (caramelized) and the vinegar has reduced.
3. Place bread at the bottom of a salad bowl. Stack veggies on top of warm bread. Scoop equal portion of pear on top of cold veggies, drizzle with pan juices and finish with gorgonzola.