Ripe pears add great fruit flavor to a basic spinach salad. We add a touch of spice to the simple dressing for a salad that might steal the show at your dinner table!
Make the vinaigrette dressing: combine the olive oil, honey, vinegar and garam masala in a bowl. Set aside.
Place the spinach in a large salad bowl.
Spoon the vinaigrette over the spinach. Toss to coat the spinach thoroughly with the dressing.
Spread the pear slices over the top of the spinach. Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds and shredded Gruyere cheese over the top of the salad, and serve.
Notes
This is a good recipe to make if your pears have suddenly gotten a bit overripe. If you’ve got some brown spots on an overripe pear, just cut those brown spots out and use the good fruit.
Garam masala is an Indian spice blend. If you don’t have it on hand, you could substitute a mix of curry powder and cinnamon, two of the main ingredients in garam masala. I would do a 2 parts curry to 1 cinnamon ratio.