Pear & Walnut Salad with Wheat Beer Vinaigrette

[kirra]

Pear & Walnut Salad with Wheat Beer Vinaigrette

This is a lovely seasonal salad—with or without the blue cheese. Use your favorite microbrewed wheat beer for a low-fat vinaigrette with big flavor.

Ingredients:

Vinaigrette:

3/4 cup wheat beer
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. wildflower or amber honey
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable stock
1/3 cup olive oil

Salad:

8 cups assorted greens
3 to 4 ripe red-skinned pears, halved, cored and thinly sliced
6 oz. blue cheese or fresh goat cheese, crumbled, optional
1/2 cup toasted walnut halves

Preparation:

Vinaigrette:
Put wheat beer in saucepan, and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until it has reduced to 1/4 cup, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and whisk in remaining ingredients. Set aside.

Salad:
Arrange greens on 8 plates, and arrange pears on greens. Crumble blue cheese on top, if using, scatter with walnuts and drizzle each salad with Vinaigrette. Serves 8

Nutritional Info:
Calories 210
Protein 3g
Total fat 14g
Saturated fat 1g
Carbs 21g
Sodium 80mg
Fiber 4g
Sugars 13g