Belgian Endive and Walnut Salad

Pears and blue cheese make this the perfect winter salad

Looking for a winter starter? Something fast enough for weeknights, but elegant enough for company?

We’ve got it! This Belgian Endive and Walnut Salad makes the season bright. Just add pears (which are at the height of their season) and tangy blue cheese (we opt for French Roquefort), and you have an easy dish that will make your tongue tingle.

And tingle rhymes with jingle.

Fennel and Pear Salad

Garnish with blue cheese or Parmesan for an early springtime starter

We could be fancy and call this insalata di finocchio e pere. But it tastes just as good in English.

The subtle anise flavor of fennel plays well with the crisp sweetness of pears. Add a garnish of blue cheese (we favor Gorgonzola) or maybe Parmigiano Reggiano, and you’ve got a springtime starter that will awaken your taste buds from their long winter’s nap.

So yeah, we love finocchio (no Pinocchios).

Blue Cheese Dressing

With (or Without) Wedge Salad

Blue Cheese may be the tastiest salad dressing around.  It has a tangy, robust flavor that makes you want to eat it by the spoonful.  And it’s versatile!  You can use it on salad, of course, but also as a dip (think Buffalo Chicken Wings) or even as a sauce.

And it’s de rigueur on Wedge Salad.  That big ole hunk of iceberg lettuce crowned with creamy dressing was a standby of the “fine dining” scene in the 1950s and 60s.  It declined in popularity for a while, as Americans discovered that lettuce didn’t have to be iceberg. 

But lately Wedge Salad has been making a comeback.  I’m seeing it on restaurant menus more often, particularly at steak houses (where it might never have left). Example? Take a look at the dinner menu for Morton’s Steakhouse, where it appears as “Center Cut Iceberg” salad.

Many people continue to view iceberg lettuce as the ultimate in untrendy.  But almost everyone agrees that Blue Cheese Dressing is terrific, no matter what you put it on. 

Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing takes just a few minutes to make — and it tastes way better than the commercial kind you buy at the grocery store.  So let’s make some.  And as a bonus, I’ll throw in a recipe for Wedge Salad!  (I know, I know — you can barely contain your excitement.)