Getting Your Greens

I had a tasty treat in my email in box about two weeks ago from my good friend in Philly. She was having dinner with her cousin and brought a salad. She wanted to share with me and I wanted to pass it on to you all. Enjoy!

I made a pear salad for the first time, inspired by the one they serve at LeBus. I started with their menu which says the salad includes greens, bosc pears, roasted red peppers, candied walnuts, blue cheese, and candied walnuts in a citrus vinaigrette.

I ended up using:

-head of green leaf lettuce, chopped (more can be added based on preference)
-small jar of roasted red peppers
-3 bosc pears, sliced and chopped
-bag of sweetened pecans (couldn't find walnuts)
-blue cheese, crumbled

First I chopped the lettuce, using a little more than 1/2 the head, although more can be used depending on preference. Then I drained the peppers and chopped the larger pieces into smaller ones and threw them in. Next came the bag of pecans (although I good number of them went straight into my mouth - so yummy!) Finally I crumbled in the blue cheese, estimating how much to use -- this can vary.

I held off on cutting the pears until we got to their house so they would not brown.

Then it was on to the citrus vinaigrette. I found several recipes online and picked one that looked good but varied it slightly:

Juice of one large navel orange
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
dash of salt
dash of fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. brown sugar -- I used regular white sugar
1 crushed clove of garlic -- I used a dash or two of garlic powder

I mixed all of this in a small container and then just shook it all up to blend. I carried it with my to our friends' house so I could add it later and keep the lettuce from getting soggy.

Finally, when we were ready to eat, I chopped the pears, dressed the salad, tossed, and served. Delicious!

I have to add...and I'm sure you all already knew this...but crispy fruit (apples/pears) and nuts (almonds/cashews) in a salad are soo good. I never thought it would be tasty, but slowly realized I was a stupid head when I started going to more and more events where it was norm. Mmmmm!

PS: I don't like it when some of my favorite restaurants doesn't have a webpage of it's own...well, Le Bus does, but it's been underconstruction since 2004...so GET ON IT LE BUS! And FYI...if you go to Philly/Manayunk--GO! And White Dog Cafe! See...a website!