Quick & Easy Warm Spinach & Pear Salad
Last year I started making warm salads for dinner as a comforting way to enjoy fresh winter fruits and vegetables. What I liked most about making those salads was combining savory and sweet flavors, and this quick & easy warm spinach & pear salad does exactly that.
Now, I don’t about you, but I am NOT a fan of mushy spinach. So, the key to this recipe is heating the frying pan properly, adding the fresh ingredients, stirring them with a spatula to warm them evenly and then turning off the stove heat as soon as the spinach leaves show the first signs of wilting.
Here’s how the recipe works.
Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes, depending on number of ingredients
Cooking Time: about 5 minutes
Ingredients
(for 2-4)
1-2 Big Handfuls Fresh Spinach
1 Ripe Pear
2-3 Garlic Cloves
Olive or Vegetable Oil
Salad Dressing
Walnuts (or your favorite nuts. Of course, don’t use any nuts if you or anyone
eating the salad has a nut allergy.)
Feta (or any) Cheese
Dried Cranberries (or any dried fruit)
Ground Black Pepper (optional)
Equipment
10-12 Inch Frying Pan
Spatula
Large Sharp (Chef’s) Knife
Cutting Board
Colander
1. Spinach grows in sandy soil, and spinach leaves usually retain some of the sand when harvested. I therefore recommend rinsing the spinach rigorously with cold water in a colander even even if it’s packaged and the packaging says that the spinach has been rinsed and is ready to use.
2. Put a frying pan on the stove and warm it over MEDIUM heat.
3. While the pan warms, prepare the garlic and pear as follows:
Garlic - Crush 2-3 garlic cloves by pressing on the side of a wide bladed (chef’s) knife with the heel of your hand until you hear and feel the garlic skins pop open. Peel the garlic skin. Hold the garlic cloves to the cutting board with curled fingers with the side of a wide bladed knife rubbed against your knuckles while cutting the garlic into slices. Finish by chopping the garlic slices in cross section into smaller pieces as shown here.
Pear - Rinse and give the pear a hand scrub under cool tap water. Cut the pear in half lengthwise, cut each pear half in half again. Carefully remove the core from each pear quarter. Cut each quarter lengthwise into 2-3 slices, and cut those slices in cross section into bite sized pieces 1/2 - 3/4 inch wide.
4. Check the frying pan for proper cooking temperature by running tap water on your fingers and flicking the water onto the pan surface. The pan is properly warmed if the water sizzles when it hits the pan surface and quickly evaporates. (NOTE: If the water sizzles and evaporates in a puff as soon as it hits the pan, move the pan to a cool burner for a few minutes. Turn down the heat setting a few notches on the burner you originally used, and heat the pan again. If the water doesn’t sizzle, keep heating the pan until it does.)
5. When the pan is properly warmed, pour enough olive or vegetable oil into the pan to coat the pan surface evenly, and right away, add the chopped pear and garlic, a handful of walnuts or your favorite nuts (optional), and a handful of dried cranberries (or any dried fruit).
6. Use a spatula to stir the ingredients in the pan, and cook only for 1-2 minutes until the garlic becomes fully fragrant. Then add the spinach, cook and stir with a spatula, and as soon as the spinach leaves show their first signs of wilting, turn off the burner heat, add a shot of salad dressing and some crumbled feta cheese, stir with a spatula, serve warm, and either enjoy as is or with a crunch of ground black pepper to taste.
