This is a wonderful salad with mixed greens, whole grains, pear, grapes, nuts, red onions, and sharp cheese all tossed in a maple sauvignon vinaigrette. Sounds so good, right?

About the recipe

This is a delicious salad I had the Cinnabar Hills Golf Club in Morgan Hill after a strenuous uphill hike at the Rancho Cannada del Oro open space preserve last week.

After our five mile hike we were famished and stopped for lunch at the Cinnabar Hills restaurant on the way back. We shared a pear salad and a delicious wood fired wild mushroom pizza.

Now the pizza I can’t replicate but I was able to replicate the salad at home. With readily available ingredients such as sweet pear, dark red flame grapes, thinly sliced onions, dates, farro, candied nuts, sharp cheddar cheese, fresh lettuce and baby spinach – this is a meal in itself. Just add in boiled egg and avocado to make it even more hearty.

Crunchy, soft, chewy, sweet, tangy, fresh

Okay, so I had to tell you that this salad has all the textures covered – soft avocado and eggs, chewy farro, tangy cheese and dressing, sweet dates grapes and pear, crunchy nuts, and fresh greens with a little oniony edge. It’s a party in the mouth and all healthy for you. So yummy you really have to try it!

Pear Grape and Farro Salad
with inspiration from Cinnabar Hills Restaurant

Ingredients:

For salad
1 pear thinly sliced
10 red flame grapes cut in halves
1/2 small red onion thinly sliced
2 dates pitted and thinly sliced
A few toasted nuts like pecans or walnuts
1 Avocado
Boiled eggs (optional)
Sharp white cheddar cheese as much as you want cut in small cubes
4 cups mixed greens with baby spinach
1 cup cooked farro. Cook farro according to package directions and set aside. I used 10 minute farro from Trader Joe’s. You only need half cup cooked farro for the salad. Save the rest for another day.

Maple Champagne Vinaigrette
2 tbsp champagne vinegar or any white wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp grainy mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Make the vinaigrette and set aside.

In a large salad bowl place the greens. Place the pear, nuts, avocado, dates, onions, grapes and cheese gently in and around the greens. Drizzle the avocado with dressing to prevent it from browning

Place the eggs on the other side of the salad. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the cooked farro over the salad. Then drizzle as much dressing as you want and toss everything together.

Taste and adjust with more dressing if desired. Serve right away.