Weight Watchers Recipe of the Day: Pear Blue Cheese Salad
Sliced autumn pears and mesclun greens tossed with pear Dijon dressing topped with crunchy toasted walnuts and crumbled gorgonzola cheese. All I can say is YUM!
Pear Blue Cheese Salad
I love a salad that's as great tasting as it is good-for-you, and this simple classic combination really delivers.
It's easy, healthy and delicious.
At this time of year, my mind typically goes straight to apples. But thanks to my participation with a group of bloggers working its way through Power Foods: 150 Delicious Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients (affiliate link) (by Martha Stewart and the editors of Whole Living Magazine), I was reminded pear season and apple season coincide, so, now is a perfect time to enjoy them too.
Pear Blue Cheese Salad Recipe Notes
Soft and sweet, pears are low in calories and packed with nutrients, fiber and antioxidants, making them a healthy and delicious addition to your diet.
Pear Blue Cheese Salad
I used a recipe for mesclun with pears and blue cheese from my Better Homes and Gardens: New Cookbook (affiliate link) as the starting point for this pear blue cheese salad, making a few modifications based on what was available (which I've noted in the recipe) with great results.
How Many Calories & WW Points in this Simple Salad?
According to my calculations, each serving of salad has 152 calories and
4 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
4 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
4 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
4 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
Pear + Blue Cheese Salad Recipe Variations:
no pears - substitute thinly sliced apples
no blue cheese - use feta or another strongly flavored cheese instead
no walnuts - pecans or slivered almonds would work
easier - use you favorite bottled light vinaigrette. Newman's Own Light Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette would be nice
fancier - use candied nuts instead of plain toasted walnuts
If you like this easy pear and blue cheese salad, be sure to check out some of my other Weight Watchers friendly salad recipes including Simple Arugula Salad with Sunflower Seeds & Parmesan, Skinny Broccoli Salad, Healthy Kale Salad with Apples & Dates, Camilla's Easy Broccoli Slaw with Cranberries and Easy Mixed Green Salad with Goat Cheese & Dates
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Pear & Blue Cheese Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 cups mesclun (mixed baby greens) or torn romaine
- 3 medium red and/or green pears, cored and thinly sliced
- ¼ cup pear nectar (I used pureed pear baby food instead)
- 2 tablespoons walnut oil or salad oil (I used olive oil)
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon honey (optional)
- ½ cup broken walnuts, toasted
- ½ cup crumbled blue cheese (I used gorgonzola)
Instructions
- In a large salad bowl place add the mesclun and pear slices and toss them gently to combine.
- To make the dressing, in a screw-top jar combine the pear nectar, oil, vinegar, mustard, ginger, and pepper. Taste the dressing and if it seems too tart, add the optional honey.
- Cover and shake well. Drizzle over the salad and toss lightly to coat.
- Divide the salad evenly among 8 salad plates. Sprinkle each serving with the toasted walnuts and crumbled blue cheese.
Recipe Notes
Pear + Blue Cheese Salad Recipe Variations:
no pears - substitute thinly sliced apples no blue cheese - use feta or another strongly flavored cheese instead no walnuts - pecans or slivered almonds would work easier - use you favorite bottled light vinaigrette. Newman's Own Light Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette would be nice. fancier - use candied nuts instead of plain toasted walnuts Click here to see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site. 4 *SmartPoints (Green plan) 4 *SmartPoints (Blue plan) 4 *SmartPoints (Purple plan) 4 *PointsPlus (Old plan)Recipe Sources:
- Better Homes and Gardens: New Cookbook (affiliate link)
- Mother Earth Living
- The World's Healthiest Foods
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
Be sure to check out what these other participating bloggers have cooked up with pears:
- Alyce @ More Time at the Table
- Ansh @ Spice Roots
- Jeanette @ Jeanette's Healthy Living
- Jill @ Saucy Cooks
- Mireya @ My Healthy Eating Habits
- Sarah @ Everything in the Kitchen Sink
- Casey @ Bookcase Foodie
- Bambi @ Adobo Down Under
More Weight Watcher's Friendly Pear Recipes
- Avocado Pear Smoothie (Simple-Nourished-Living)
- Glazed Pear Muffins (Weight Watchers)
- Crockpot Apple & Pear Fruit Compote (EverydayMaven)
- Healthy Roasted Pears Snack (SnackGirl)
- Breakfast Bulgur with Pears (Weight Watchers)
- Cranberry Pear Sauce (SkinnyTaste)
- Prosciutto and Pear Stuffing (Laaloosh)
- Autumn Salad with Pears & Gorgonzola (SkinnyTaste)
Search for More WW Friendly Salad Recipes
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
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Ansh
I love a pear and cheese combination. Growing up, pears were something you ate when you could not find the exotic fruits like mangoes and bananas in the store. Yes I lived at a place where bananas were exotic :))
Love your salad dressing!
Minnie@thelady8home
The dressing looks so flavorful!! Thank you so so much bringing this to my party 🙂
Minnie@thelady8home
And it also made it the Menu this week:
http://www.thelady8home.com/2012/11/08/menu-finds-with-weekend-gala-extravaganza-dinner-party-9/#
Jazzie
I like the variations you put for different availability of some veggies in this salad recipe. I'll try some of them and see which one I'd like best.
Rhonda Lavelle
Do you have a substitute for the pear nectar? I can’t find it here.
Martha McKinnon
Hi Rhonda, I've used pureed pear baby food with good success (It's in the recipe notes.) Hope this helps. ~Martha