There is a restaurant by my office called Cucina Paradiso and they make the BEST salad ever called the Rustic Salad. I could eat plates of it and never get tired of it, and I could also drink the balsamic vinaigrette that comes with it, I love it so much. I recreated the recipe at home and if you watch the portions of add-ins, it can be really healthy! Here is what you will need:
- 4 cups mixed greens
- 1/2 cup candied walnuts*
- 1-2 pears, sliced thin
- 1 cup strawberries, sliced
- 1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
- Paul Newman’s Light Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
*To make the candied walnuts, add the 1/2 cup halved walnuts with 1/4 sugar in a small skillet. Cook on low until the sugar melts and it gets a nice brown color. Don’t leave it unattended, so it doesn’t burn. Cool on a cookie sheet. Take 4 plates, put a bunch of mixed greens, sprinkle some of the candied walnuts, pear, strawberries and cheese evenly over the 4 plates and add the Light Balsamic Vinaigrette to each salad. Two tablespoons of the dressing is only 60 calories, and it tastes great with all these ingredients together. Tomorrow I am going to attempt another item on their menu: Pistachio crusted chicken breast, served on peasant bread with red pepper dipping sauce! We’ll see if I can duplicate it. Otherwise, I know the owners, maybe they would give up the recipe?? I doubt it, but it doesn’t hurt to ask right?
yum yum and yum!
I love salads that mix a whole array of greens, fruits, nuts and cheeses. It’s a taste bud explosion that works so well together.
A few years ago I ate at a 5 star restaurant my brother worked at and I remember being brought a salad with strawberries on top and thinking it was so unusual and why were they there? I took one bite and knew — b/c they were meant to be there – they were so good!
I know, before I ever had this salad, I would never do fruit with salad, now I almost always put diced apple or pear or grapes on it, its so good!