Just about every night I make some type of side salad for the mr with dinner. Its usually just whatever veggies I am eating on a bed of kale with s splash of vinegar. I used to add chunks of fruit, but he kept saying that he really hated when I stuck fruit in his salad. HATED. So I stopped, kinda. I never really believed he hates fruit in the salads, I just think he was confused or something……
But being the sweet guy that he is, and always down to try anything, he was cool with it when I told him I was making a fancy (not fancy) salad with pears. He told me he would go with me on my fantastical salad journey.. and guess what. He ate the crap out of it.. said it was fantastic.I mean, how could anyone not get down with this combo. Sweet pears slightly soften with sweet maple and balanced out with a nice acidic vinegar. Walnuts for crunch and creaminess all on a bed of bitter greens…. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. And you know how the internet is all abuzz about eating salads for breakfast (if you didn’t you do know) this would be a great salad to start out your day.
So greens with fruit… Always a good idea. As for the mr, I knew that he was bull shitting me about the fruit, or at least I hoped he was cause its go time and there is going to be all sorts of crazy salad stuff going on in here!
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The stuff. A big bowl of a some bitter spicy arugula (you can use any greens you like, but the more bitter ones pair well with the sweetness of the pear) A nice firm pear, some walnuts, a little maple syrup,some balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper.
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Cut the pear in half, remove seeds and stem and slice the pear into slices, not to thick, or to thin.
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Place those slices into a preheated, dry skillet with a handful of walnuts. to start toasting the walnuts and the pear slices get a little seared.
Note..If your pear is really ripe, skip the sear….i will get mushy and fall apart.
![]()
After a minutes or two of searing the pears on each side pour in the maple and vinegar and turn heat down to medium low.
![]()
Continue to cook for just a few more minutes until the liquid starts to thicken a bit. Look at those beauts….ready for action.
![]()
Grab a bowl, fill it with greens and top (dump) with the pears, walnuts and all the liquid in the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and call it..Time to eat.
Such a good bowl of stuff.
Happy Thursday!
-C
Serves 2
- 1/4 lb (a few big handfuls ) of arugula ….Any green works, but the more bitter the better
- 1 large firm pear (I used an anjou but any type would work)
- 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3-4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- good handful of walnuts
- salt and pepper to taste
Stick a large fry skillet on the stove and preheat to medium heat.
Now grab yourself a nice firm pear, cut it in half, remove the seed and slice into thin pieces. Place the slices into the preheated dry skillet with the walnuts. The pear slices can touch, but make sure they do not overlap. Sear(they wont turn brown) each side of the pears for about 2 minutes, just to soften it a bit but not to soft or they will get mushy. Also, toss around those nuts a bit to give them a little toast. Once both sides are seared, turn heat to medium low and dump maple and the balsamic vinegar. Cook for another few minutes until the liquid starts to slightly thicken then remove from heat. Place the greens into a bowl and top with the pears, walnuts, and all the liquid left in the pan. Sprinkle with salt ans pepper.
Grab a fork cause a spoon wont work here and eat yourself full of goodness.
This treat is a long time coming, like almost a years time…Let me explain.
One of the littles had requested a dessert of some type of almond pear situation for his birthday…..last year. Of course I said yes, no problem, for your birthday, you got it. But I never got it. I actually completely forgot. Then a few months later, I remebemered, felt like a big D-bag and told myself I still had to make something for the guy… and I forgot again. Next time I remembered, I had just bought a bunch of pears and that was it. Make the kid something you bitch (is what I told myself) but heres the thing, I figured he forgot too and those pears were mighty tasty.(I know I am horrible)
So just last week I was at the store, meandering through the produce, and noticed that local pears were on sale. This was it. I knew it had to be done. I bought a large quantity (enough to bake with and eat) and got to making that little his birthday treat request. I went with bars.. nothing to sweet, nothing to crazy, lot and lots of almond and pear flavors. Perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack, and made even better by the fact that they were made for him, and it isn’t even his birthday.
So I made them, and brought them to his house, waited for him to get off the bus from school, and handed him his long awaited pear almond treat. He was so happy, it made me feel like shit.(I so should have made him something a year ago) But oh well, he got them right? And this way is much more a surprise then if I had actually made them when I said that I would. An unexpected, not your birthday, birthday treat!
Right here guys…Still the Best Aunt EVER!
![]()
The stuff. Alond flour, oat flour, baking soda ,salt, earth balance and a little honey. We also need some rolled oaths almond butter and almonds. And of course we need pears, with a little corn starch and a smidge of cinnamon.
![]()
Nice ripe pears get thinly sliced, seeds and stems removed.
![]()
Tossed into a bowl with the starch and cinnamon and set aside.
The oat and almond flour gets mixed together with the salt and the baking soda, then mix together with the earth balance and honey until it turns into a dough.( I used my hands to mix it together…it worked better then a fork)
![]()
Break off about a 1/4 of the dough and stick back in bowl. Take the rest and evenly press into the bottom of a 9×9 baking pan.
![]()
Take the remaing dough and mix in the almonds, oats, and almond butter to form the crumble.
![]()
Dump the pears on the crust, making sure the are level and pretty evenly layered.
![]()
And crumble the crumble on top.
Give it a little press to compact the crumble and into the oven it goes!
![]()
When all browned and crispy and nice, remove from oven and let cool. Cut into squares and go for it.
Look at that, so much goodness.Go ME!
Happy Wednesday people!
-C
For the crust and crumble
- 1 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup earth balance (can use butter)
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/4 cup almonds
For the pear filling
- 4-5 ripe pears
- 2 tablespoons corn or arrowroot starch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350
In a large bowl, mix together the almond and oat flour, baking soda, and salt. Add in the earth balance and honey and mix together until a dough forms (I find using my hands to work swell). Roll dough into a blob and tear about 1/4 of the dough away and set back into bowl. Press the remaining dough into he bottom of a 9X9 inch baking pan. With the remaining dough, mix the rolled oats, the almond butter and the chopped almonds and set aside again.
Now slice up your pears into 1/4 inch thick slices (remove seeds and stems) and toss into a bowl with the cinnamon and starch. Take pears and layer ontop of the crust, trying to keep the pears evenly distributed. And dump and distribute the crumble topping all over the pears. Gie the whole thing a few pats to compress the crumble a bit.
Stick into the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the crumble topping is all nice and brown and crispy.
Remove from the oven, let cool and cut into squares.
Great as breakfast lunch snack or dinner. Eat with you hands and lick crumbs off plate.
THE LOVELY CRAZY
August 11, 2016 by maximios • Blog
Just about every night I make some type of side salad for the mr with dinner. Its usually just whatever veggies I am eating on a bed of kale with s splash of vinegar. I used to add chunks of fruit, but he kept saying that he really hated when I stuck fruit in his salad. HATED. So I stopped, kinda. I never really believed he hates fruit in the salads, I just think he was confused or something……
But being the sweet guy that he is, and always down to try anything, he was cool with it when I told him I was making a fancy (not fancy) salad with pears. He told me he would go with me on my fantastical salad journey.. and guess what. He ate the crap out of it.. said it was fantastic.I mean, how could anyone not get down with this combo. Sweet pears slightly soften with sweet maple and balanced out with a nice acidic vinegar. Walnuts for crunch and creaminess all on a bed of bitter greens…. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. And you know how the internet is all abuzz about eating salads for breakfast (if you didn’t you do know) this would be a great salad to start out your day.
So greens with fruit… Always a good idea. As for the mr, I knew that he was bull shitting me about the fruit, or at least I hoped he was cause its go time and there is going to be all sorts of crazy salad stuff going on in here!
The stuff. A big bowl of a some bitter spicy arugula (you can use any greens you like, but the more bitter ones pair well with the sweetness of the pear) A nice firm pear, some walnuts, a little maple syrup,some balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper.
Cut the pear in half, remove seeds and stem and slice the pear into slices, not to thick, or to thin.
Place those slices into a preheated, dry skillet with a handful of walnuts. to start toasting the walnuts and the pear slices get a little seared.
Note..If your pear is really ripe, skip the sear….i will get mushy and fall apart.
After a minutes or two of searing the pears on each side pour in the maple and vinegar and turn heat down to medium low.
Continue to cook for just a few more minutes until the liquid starts to thicken a bit. Look at those beauts….ready for action.
Grab a bowl, fill it with greens and top (dump) with the pears, walnuts and all the liquid in the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and call it..Time to eat.
Such a good bowl of stuff.
Happy Thursday!
-C
Serves 2
Stick a large fry skillet on the stove and preheat to medium heat.
Now grab yourself a nice firm pear, cut it in half, remove the seed and slice into thin pieces. Place the slices into the preheated dry skillet with the walnuts. The pear slices can touch, but make sure they do not overlap. Sear(they wont turn brown) each side of the pears for about 2 minutes, just to soften it a bit but not to soft or they will get mushy. Also, toss around those nuts a bit to give them a little toast. Once both sides are seared, turn heat to medium low and dump maple and the balsamic vinegar. Cook for another few minutes until the liquid starts to slightly thicken then remove from heat. Place the greens into a bowl and top with the pears, walnuts, and all the liquid left in the pan. Sprinkle with salt ans pepper.
Grab a fork cause a spoon wont work here and eat yourself full of goodness.
This treat is a long time coming, like almost a years time…Let me explain.
One of the littles had requested a dessert of some type of almond pear situation for his birthday…..last year. Of course I said yes, no problem, for your birthday, you got it. But I never got it. I actually completely forgot. Then a few months later, I remebemered, felt like a big D-bag and told myself I still had to make something for the guy… and I forgot again. Next time I remembered, I had just bought a bunch of pears and that was it. Make the kid something you bitch (is what I told myself) but heres the thing, I figured he forgot too and those pears were mighty tasty.(I know I am horrible)
So just last week I was at the store, meandering through the produce, and noticed that local pears were on sale. This was it. I knew it had to be done. I bought a large quantity (enough to bake with and eat) and got to making that little his birthday treat request. I went with bars.. nothing to sweet, nothing to crazy, lot and lots of almond and pear flavors. Perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack, and made even better by the fact that they were made for him, and it isn’t even his birthday.
So I made them, and brought them to his house, waited for him to get off the bus from school, and handed him his long awaited pear almond treat. He was so happy, it made me feel like shit.(I so should have made him something a year ago) But oh well, he got them right? And this way is much more a surprise then if I had actually made them when I said that I would. An unexpected, not your birthday, birthday treat!
Right here guys…Still the Best Aunt EVER!
The stuff. Alond flour, oat flour, baking soda ,salt, earth balance and a little honey. We also need some rolled oaths almond butter and almonds. And of course we need pears, with a little corn starch and a smidge of cinnamon.
Nice ripe pears get thinly sliced, seeds and stems removed.
Tossed into a bowl with the starch and cinnamon and set aside.
The oat and almond flour gets mixed together with the salt and the baking soda, then mix together with the earth balance and honey until it turns into a dough.( I used my hands to mix it together…it worked better then a fork)
Break off about a 1/4 of the dough and stick back in bowl. Take the rest and evenly press into the bottom of a 9×9 baking pan.
Take the remaing dough and mix in the almonds, oats, and almond butter to form the crumble.
Dump the pears on the crust, making sure the are level and pretty evenly layered.
And crumble the crumble on top.
Give it a little press to compact the crumble and into the oven it goes!
When all browned and crispy and nice, remove from oven and let cool. Cut into squares and go for it.
Look at that, so much goodness.Go ME!
Happy Wednesday people!
-C
For the crust and crumble
For the pear filling
Preheat oven to 350
In a large bowl, mix together the almond and oat flour, baking soda, and salt. Add in the earth balance and honey and mix together until a dough forms (I find using my hands to work swell). Roll dough into a blob and tear about 1/4 of the dough away and set back into bowl. Press the remaining dough into he bottom of a 9X9 inch baking pan. With the remaining dough, mix the rolled oats, the almond butter and the chopped almonds and set aside again.
Now slice up your pears into 1/4 inch thick slices (remove seeds and stems) and toss into a bowl with the cinnamon and starch. Take pears and layer ontop of the crust, trying to keep the pears evenly distributed. And dump and distribute the crumble topping all over the pears. Gie the whole thing a few pats to compress the crumble a bit.
Stick into the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the crumble topping is all nice and brown and crispy.
Remove from the oven, let cool and cut into squares.
Great as breakfast lunch snack or dinner. Eat with you hands and lick crumbs off plate.