Pear Salad with Bacon, Blue Cheese and Arugula

SERVES:

4

INGREDIENTS:

8 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, crumbled

1/4 - 1/3 cup finely diced shallot or onion

1 - 2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 - 3 Tbs apple cider vinegar

crack of black pepper

2 large or 4 small pears, cored and cut into large bite size pieces

1 1/2  - 2 cups rough chopped radicchio

approx. 6 - 8 loosely packed cups baby arugula

approx. 1 cup crumbled blue cheese

PROCEDURE:

Crisp up 8 slices of bacon in a pan on the stovetop and then take those out of the pan to drain on paper towels.

While the bacon is cooking, finely dice about 1/4 cup shallot or onion and then pour off and reserve all but 3 - 4 Tbs of rendered bacon fat and then saute the diced onion in the fat in the pan to soften.

At that point, add the onion to a mixing bowl and let it cool down for a minute.

Then add a little dollop of Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 2 - 3 Tbs apple cider vinegar and a crack of black pepper and whisk it up.

Rough chop about 1 1/2 cups of radicchio and then quarter, core and cut two large pears into large bite size pieces.

Add a little more of the reserved bacon fat to the pan and saute the pears for a minute to soften and warm up, adding the chopped radicchio part way through to wilt down a little bit.

Add as much arugula as you like to a large mixing bowl and add the warm pears and radicchio, add the crumbled crispy bacon, add as much crumbled blue cheese as you like and then add as much of the dressing as you think you'll need and gently toss to combine.

HINTS:

Substitute baby spinach or any other lettuce for the arugula if you like.