Pear Harvest Salad with Hazelnuts & Brie

If you want a fail-proof salad formula, with no recipe, just take a bed of greens and add a fruit, a nut, and a cheese. Drizzle with vinaigrette. This salad is a perfect proof point for that formula (which really never fails).

Happen to be planning your Thanksgiving menu? With pears, brie, and hazelnuts this dish fits right in. Looking for more of a salad-for-lunch kind of situation? Add cooked farro, which will add some heft.

Pear Harvest Salad with Hazelnuts & Brie

Published November 13, 2019 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 2-4   |    Active Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

3-4 cups baby arugula

1 ripe bosc pear

1/4 cup raw hazelnuts

1/4 cup brie, sliced into bite-sized pieces

1/4 tablespoons dried cranberries

1/4 cup cooked and cooled farro, wheat berries or brown quinoa

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon dijon mustard

Generous pinch salt

Several cracks of black pepper, plus more for topping

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 300°F and spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet. Place pan in oven, and toast nuts for 10-15 minutes, checking frequently. The nut should be golden brown (the papery skin will be dark, and begin to blister). Remove nuts from oven, and place in a cloth kitchen towel. Rub nuts in the towel to remove the papery skins (some won’t come off, but it’s fine). Set aside to cool completely.
2. While the hazelnuts toast, place arugula in a serving bowl.
3. Slice the pear in half. Cut off the stem, and remove the seedy center. Slice pear into 1/4-inch thick pieces. Arrange pears over top of the arugula.
4. Top with dried cranberries, farro, and pieces of brie.
5. When hazelnuts are cooled, scatter over the salad.
6. Add balsamic vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, a pinch of salt, and a few cracks of pepper to a jar/container with a lid. Place lid on jar, and shake to combine.
7. When ready to serve, drizzle vinaigrette over salad.

Vanilla Chai Spice Dried Pears

A big box showed up in our dining room in mid-September with my name on the shipping label. 

It was my birthday but I still scratched my head. This September, I had been so stressed that I mostly avoided the topic of my birthday or gifts with anyone that asked— I certainly didn’t need anything, but I also just couldn’t find a minute to think about it clearly.

I had ordered nothing from Amazon myself (though in the same minute that thought entered my mind I also started doubting myself— had I hit “buy now” on that Dehydrator I had been eyeing instead of “add to cart?”). 

When I got halfway through opening the box with a paring knife and found it was a Dehydrator, I doubted myself even further. So much so, that I stopped right there and pulled out my phone to check my Amazon order history.

Relief washed over me when I saw I had placed no orders in the last month, but I still had a mystery on my hands. I finished unpacking the appliance before drilling Oliver on who had bought it. It probably took me four tries to get it right, but when I did land on my dad it all made sense. I had given him a non-answer when he had asked about my birthday in general, so he had asked Oliver.

This new dehydrator was about five times nicer than any of the ones I was planning to buy myself! Quieter, easy to use, and has a timer (key, if you ask me!). It’s the Excalibur 5-Tray Dehydrator (affiliate link!). (THANKS DAD!)

So far, my absolute favorite thing to dehydrate has been pears.

This recipe is inspired by one I found in Dried and True (affiliate link), a cookbook that takes dehydrating to the next level, moving it from boring old-fashioned recipes to new, inventive, and tantalizing flavors. I made the Dried Vanilla Pears from the book twice before venturing out on my own.

As soon as our first fall day hit, I immediately was dreaming about warmer flavors, like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Chai. And that’s how these pears came to be — a day dream, like most of my recipes 😉

In real life, each slice of pear was such a treat, I savored every one. We took them hiking, ate them around the house, and packed them in our bags for outings around town. I always looked forward to those delicious pears. I thought, for about 5 seconds, about sharing them with a few coworkers but greed got the best of me and I kept it to myself. Sharing the recipe is almost as good, right?!

This recipe is good for dehydrating-pros or a newbies like me. Make it while the pears are at their peak! I used Starkrimson Pears one round and Colorado Heirloom Pears another; Bartlette and D’Anjou would also be great.

Vanilla Chai Spice Dried Pears

Published October 16, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Yield: 20 slices   |    Active Time: 8-9 hours

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Ingredients:

4 ripe pears Starkrimson

1/2 cup granulated sugar or coconut sugar

1 cup water

5 slices of fresh ginger - each about the size of a nickel

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/16 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/16 teaspoon ground cardamom

Pinch of ground cloves

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients but the pears in a sauce pan, and bring to a simmer, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
2. Wash pears and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices. Remove seeds and cut of stems as you go.
3. Work with 3-4 pear slices at once: submerge pears in syrup on the stove, simmering slices for 10 minutes. Pears should be softened through but should not fall apart easily.
4. Use a slotted spoon to remove slices from syrup and set on a plate to cool for several minutes.
5. When all of the pears are done, spread them out on the wracks of your dehydrator (I use this one - affiliate link!), with at least 1/4-inch of space between each slice.
6. Place wrack in dehydrator and set to 135°F for 8-10 hours, until pears are dried but still chewy.

Baklava Stuffed Pears

When my dad hosted parties, he had a rule that no one else was allowed in the kitchen. Someone would try and he was tisk them: Uh-uh! and shoo them away. Dinner was his work of art; doing it all was his version of hospitality. No one would chop a vegetable other than he and occasionally, his assistant— me. 

Every night was a different theme: sushi, Ethiopian, Mexican. Middle Eastern night fell short of none. Layers of phyllo dough were painted with butter, and toasted nuts were piled in-between, and small squares of baklava were drizzled with citrus infused honey. 

To me, new roots, are a redefinition of your childhood traditions, in a new light. These baklava stuffed pears are exactly that. Reminiscent of those baklava squares, baked into a fresh new vehicle. Lighter, fruitier... a fusion of new and old. 

The mix of pears with spices, honey, and nuts taste like an quintessential fall dish, one that you can dress up or down depending on what you’re craving: plain, with yogurt or oatmeal, or alongside a scoop of ice cream drizzled with chocolate. 

Baklava Stuffed Pears

Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    |   

Baklava gets a twist when baked right into ripe pears!

Serves: 10   |    Total Time: 40 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 5 pears
• 1/2 cup nuts (mix of walnuts, pistachios and hazelnuts)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/16 teaspoon cloves
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 2 tablespoons honey

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Wash the pears, and half each one. Use a pairing knife to remove the seeds & pithy centers. Place the pears flesh-side-up in a baking dish.
2. In a food processor, pulse the nuts, coconut sugar, cinnamon, and cloves until nuts are roughly chopped. Use a spoon to scoop the nut mixture into the cavity of the pears, creating mounds of nuts on each one.
3. Then, heat the lemon juice, butter, and honey in a small sauce pan until they simmer. Remove from heat. Use a brush to spread the butter mixture over each pear.
4. Place pan in oven and bake until pears are cooked through, about 25 minutes. Serve warm or cold, plain, with ice cream, or over yogurt or oatmeal.