Perfectly Poached Pear & Spinach Salad
Nutritious and Delicious! Makes about 12 servings
Ingredients:
3 Poached Anjou pears (recipe follows) 4 ounces goat cheese
18 oz rinsed baby spinach leaves 1 ¼ cup roasted walnuts
¾ cups of pomegranate seeds (optional)
Dressing:
3 tbsp reserved pear poaching liquid 1tbsp honey 1/3-cup olive oil 3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp whole-grain mustard 1 tbsp dried thyme
Poached Pears: In a 5-6 quart pan over medium heat combine: 1 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup apple juice, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, bring to a simmer.
Peel 3 firm-ripe whole pears, cut in half lengthwise, and core. Place pears in juice mixture. Cover and simmer, turning occasionally, until pears are barely tender when pierced, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let pears cool in liquid turning occasionally, at least 30 minutes, or cover and chill up to 3 days.
Preparation:
1. With a slotted spoon, lift pears from poaching liquid; reserve liquid. Slice pears lengthwise or cut them into
1/2- inch chunks.
2. In a large bowl, combine pears with spinach and walnuts. Crumble half the cheese over salad.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, rice vinegar, 3 tbsp pear poaching liquid, mustard, honey, and
thyme. Pour over salad and gently mix to coat, adding salt and pepper. Crumble remaining cheese over salad and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds if desired.
Nutritional Information:
Pears are a member of the apple family and are considered one of the safest fruits to eat in regards to food allergies, as they are considered hypoallergenic. Pears are also a good source of dietary fibre, vitamin C, copper, and they help to stabilize estrogen levels. If pregnant women ate just one pear a day, this could significantly decrease the chances of her child developing a neural tube defect because pairs also contain boron.
Spinach contains at least 13 different flavonoid compounds that function as antioxidants, which have anticancer properties. One cup of raw spinach contains 200% of your daily food requirement of vitamin K, which is important for maintaining bone health because it helps prevent excessive activation of osteoclasts the cells that break down bone. Spinach also contains vitamin A, C, E, K magnesium, folic acid and nonheme iron, which is poorly absorbed by the body unless eaten with vitamin C which the pears in this recipe would provide the extra needed vitamin C.
Walnuts are an excellent source of Omega 3 fatty acid the type of healthy fat our body cannot manufacture itself. A quarter cup provides over 90% of the daily requirements for omega 3. Walnuts provide benefits helpful in cognitive function, anti-inflammatory benefits, cardiovascular protection, and they contain several anticancer properties.
Goat Cheese and goat milk are a very good source of calcium, protein, phosphorus, riboflavin, potassium and the amino acid tryptophan. The greatest benefit of goat's cheese is that some people who cannot tolerate cow cheese are able to eat goat cheese because the protein, which causes the allergic reaction, is different.
Susan Jane Morton, CNP, NNCP
Nutrition & Lifestyle Counselling Services