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Writer's pictureRobert Adams

Pears, Walnuts, and Blue Cheese

Updated: Oct 23



THE TITLE TO THIS ESSAY reminded me of the lyrics, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme made famous by Simon and Garfunkel in their 1966 version of Scarborough Fair. It may be a stretch but go with me.


I posted these names on my iPhone this week to remind me of the ingredients I needed to make a seasonal salad. I am continuing to add diversity to my diet in my quest to lose 25 pounds over six months. Can you imagine a seventy-five-year-old trying to lose weight by making dinner salads? It’s a changing world, and I’m trying.


Pears are prominently featured in my area's grocery stores this time of the year. I’ve read that the fiber they contain helps one feel satiated and helps with regularity; Lord knows I can use that. Walnuts keep popping up as ideal snacks loaded with omega-3 fatty acids to help lower cholesterol for heart health and brain functioning. Lord knows I can use that, too. Finally, blue cheese took some getting used to in my twenties, introduced to me by my mother who made a creamy blue cheese salad dressing she dolloped on a wedge of iceberg lettuce that was to live for. I don’t want to know the health benefits or calories of blue cheese, so I passed on that inquiry and used blue cheese sparingly, crumbled on my pear salad.


When it comes to pears, I’m a Bartlett man. It is the quintessential variety grown in Michigan and delivers the ideal appearance (pear shape), sweetness, and aroma that have made it so popular and prized for centuries. It has a unique quality in that its skin color brightens from green to yellow as it ripens on one’s counter.


The “variety” goes back to 1765 when a British orchardist thought his pears were unique and began growing the trees for their disease-resistant fresh fruit and of course, to make moonshine. It took some sparring among honorable men and a few decades of proof to find that it was a British variety named Williams, well established in the European trade. Yes, our Bartletts were in fact, Williams. The damage had been done and the Bartlett name (owner of the Massachusetts nursery that thought he had discovered it) prevailed in the United States. So much for intellectual property rights but that’s for another time.

 

Bob’s Pear Salad


Ingredients

One Bartlett pear sliced thin with skin on.

Honey-cinnamon walnuts 15 pieces.

2 TBS crumbled blue cheese.

2 handfuls of washed baby spinach, stems removed.

Red onion two thin slices separated.

Honey vinaigrette.

 

Directions

Candy the walnuts in a small skillet for two minutes on medium heat adding 2 tsp honey and ¼ tsp of cinnamon halfway through heating them.


For the dressing whisk together 3 TBS rice vinegar, 1 TBS honey, and 1/2 TBS brown mustard, and gradually add 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil. Add salt & ground pepper.


Pour dressing over salad fixings and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

 

                                                                ***

 

Some Irony.


Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme - the repeating verse and album's title featured in the beloved song Scarborough Fair. It was made famous in 1966 by Simon & Garfunkel.



Like our pear, the English take credit for this melody and have sung their versions of the ballad for centuries. My reality is that these American maestros are remembered for their medley, which was so beautifully done.

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