Pear and Cranberry Chopped Salad

Pear and Cranberry Chopped Salad - from Chelsie Troxel in Nashua Ward 

So good for a winter pot luck (double or triple it) or holiday meal - Chelsie brought this at Christmas Eve and we all loved it.

1 English cucumber - halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch dice
3 T olive oil
3 T sherry vinegar
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, diced - about 1 C
1 ripe but firm pear, cut into 1/4 inch pieces - about 1 C
1/2 small red onion, minced
1/2 C dried cranberries or dried cherries
1 Romaine heart, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 3 C)
4 oz blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 C pistachios or almonds, toasted and chopped coarse
ground black pepper

1.  Combine cucumber and 1/2 tsp salt in a colander set over a bowl and drain for 15 min.
2.  Whisk the oil and vinegar together in large bowl.  Add cucumber, pepper, pear, onion, cranberries.  Toss and let stand at room temp to blend the flavors - 5 min.
3.  Add the romaine, blue cheese, and nuts, and toss to combine,  Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

BLT salad

adapted from The Food Nanny cookbook

Serves 4

1 head of Romaine lettuce (washed, spun dry, torn into pieces) 
4 slices of bacon, cooked and torn into small pieces
1 C shredded swiss cheese
1/4 C shredded fresh parmesan cheese
1/4 C slivered almonds
a large handful of grape tomatoes 

Toss all ingredients together.

Drizzle with this dressing (don't use too much):

juice of 1/2 lemon
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 tsp salt
about 1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/3 C vegetable oil 

Add large croutons  - and enjoy!!

Notes:  Once the bacon is ready, this salad is so easy and quick to prepare and everyone loves it.   The ingredients are approximate (for example, just grate the fresh parmesan directly onto the salad, no need to measure).

Apple Carrot Salad

This is such a pretty, fresh, tangy, healthy side dish.  It is good any season (apples and carrots are good year round).  

• 2 large apples, 1 green (granny smith) and 1 red (Gala or honey crisp), cored, thinly sliced, and cut into matchsticks.

• 1 1/2 T fresh lemon juice (to taste - the juice of one lemon will be plenty)

• 3 C carrots, cut into matchsticks (you can probably find these already prepared in the store)

• 1/4 C chives, chopped 

• 1 T olive oil 
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp each) 

• 2 oz feta cheese (French variety is great), crumbled.

In large bowl, toss apple matchsticks in lemon juice as you cut them.  Add everything else, toss to mix, adjust seasonings, and enjoy!

(Kaela, half of this recipe would be more than enough for you and Joe, as a side with fish or chicken.)