Broiled Pear and Endive Salad With Corn And Caper Vinaigrette

This salad is dressy with its lovely arranged - and low acid - pears combined with the bitter Belgian endive. The dressing is very light, relying on the corn, cheese, and crunchy nuts to add more flavor. And the combination of sweet and bitter is very engaging.

Salad:
  • 3 heads Belgian endive
  • 3 ripe pears, unpeeled and cut into thin wedges
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup fresh raw or frozen corn kernels, thawed
  • 1/2 cup crumbled Gorfanzola cheese (as tolerated)
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
  • 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
  • Kosher salt to taste

Vinaigrette
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon walnut oil
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (as tolerated)
  • 2 teaspoons Digon mustard (as tolerated)
  • 1 tablespoon drained capers
  • 2 - 3 tablespoons fresh chopped dill

  1. Cut the bottoms off the endive and arrange the spears on a small serving platter in a sunburst pattern
  2. Preheat oven to broil. Arrange pear slices on a baking sheet that's been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Drizzle the spears with the olive oil. Place the baking sheet in the top third of the oven. Broil the pears with the oven door slightly open until lightly colored. Remove the pears from the oven and let cool. Arrange the cooled spear slices on the platter, overlapping the endives slightly
  3. Sprinkle salad with corn, cheese, pine nuts, and parsley
  4. Combine all the vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad. Sprinkle the salad with salt to taste and serve

Make 6 servings