Summer is wrapping up and we are enjoying the last of our favorite summer fruits and vegetables. This Pear and Goat Cheese salad is super light, yet full of crisp taste! The tartness of the green grapes mixed with the sweetness of pear blends perfectly with the creaminess of the goat cheese. Add the mango balsamic vinaigrette and you have yourself one amazing salad!
When I started writing my food blog back in 2012, I promised myself I would have a library full of salad selections. I do have a nice library of salads and I’m proud to add this one to the collection! I love salads and I swear…I feel like I eat a salad every single day. I try to at least…that’s how much I love salads! It’s still really hot here in Arizona, but at least we are getting into the mid 90’s this week…so it is cooling off…a little bit…
It is cooling off enough for me to start planting my garden, so I’m excited about that! In my fall/winter garden I make sure I have plenty of lettuce planted. I love going out to the garden and picking my lettuce leaves off, washing them and making a fresh salad for lunch. It just does not get any fresher than that! This Pear and Goat Cheese Bistro salad is perfect for lunch and it’s incredibly versatile. If you follow me, you know I love a good protein source added to my salads. For this one, I’ve added both shredded rotisserie chicken breast to the salad and cooked salmon. You don’t even have to heat the meat up! Both the cold salmon and rotisserie chicken are great on this salad. Or you can choose to heat it up. Or you don’t have to add any meat at all! Go vegetarian! This salad is so versatile…you get to decide!
Speaking of versatile, let’s talk about the dressing on this salad. This dressing has a balsamic vinegar and olive oil taste. You could use any flavor of balsamic vinegar you want, but I chose a mango vinaigrette today. I guarantee a raspberry vinaigrette would be fabulous in this dressing! Sometimes you just need to get creative…so have fun with this dressing! Mix it up a little! Look and see what you have in your cupboard and create a new dressing!!
Regardless of what vinaigrette you choose, this salad is a summer favorite! And it’s simple. The dressing is super fast and easy to make. I also added some poppyseed to the vinaigrette dressing because I think it just looks really pretty! YUM!
I eat this salad a lot for lunch. Actually, like I said before…I eat a lot of salads for lunch, like my Greek Kale and Quinoa Salad and my Orange Walnut Salad with Sweet and Sour Dressing. And then sometimes, I feel like having a unique salad like my Cauliflower, Cashew and Pea Salad. All these salads pair really well with soups and sandwiches. And all my salads are gluten free!
So, there you have it! A fabulous salad creation that you can make in 5 minutes and is super versatile so you can switch up the vinaigrette dressing base and the protein you choose (or don’t choose) to add! Enjoy this yummy one and Happy Eats!
- 1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
- 1 Tablespoon Mango Vinaigrette, or your favorite flavor of balsamic vinaigrette
- 1 1/2 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive-Oil
- 1/2 teaspoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon poppyseeds
- 6 cups mixed salad greens
- 1/2 pear, sliced
- 20 green grapes, halved
- 1/4 cup goat cheese
- 1/4 red onion, thin sliced
- Combine all dressing ingredients together in a bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
- Combine all salad ingredients together in a big bowl and toss to combine.
- Slowly pour in the dressing and gently toss to combine.
Add in chicken breast or salmon for added protein! I have added both rotisserie chicken and salmon (both warmed up and cold) to this salad and it's fantastic!
Don’t forget to pin this PEAR AND GOAT CHEESE BISTRO SALAD to your favorite SALAD and LUNCH board on PINTEREST!!
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I love serving a salad with dinner, but my husband is so over them. I think your fun twist will be just the thing to breathe some new life into our nightly salad sides!
I hope it does!! Let me know how it goes!!
Beautiful, simple, elegant, all in one recipe.
Awe – that is a nice description of it!! Thank you!