Parsnip, Pear and Pecan Salad (A Lotta Alliteration Salad!)
This salad was inspired by a cooking game shows where the chef-testants had to create a dish using only foods that began with one letter of the alphabet. As a substitute teacher in Kindergarten I thought, “what a fun game to play with my students”! And, as the letter of the week was “P”, that’s the letter we used. I had the student come up with the list of ingredients for me to buy. The only rules were: 1. It had to be something we could make in class, so all the ingredients had to be able to be eaten raw. (I cheated a little on this step by turning the parmesan cheese into tuiles and bringing them in already made.) 2. No knives allowed in class so Miss T. had to do all the chopping and cutting at home. And 3. Everyone (except anyone with specific allergies) had to help make and at least TASTE the dish.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 2 cups Parsnips, juienned
- 1 cup anjou Pears, cubed
- 1/2 cup Pecans, chopped
- 1/2 cup Peas, fresh or frozen. (If frozen, just let thaw on the counter for about 15 minutes)
- 1/2 cup Pomegranate seeds
- 1/4 cup Pine nuts
- 1 teaspoon Pink salt*
- 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise**
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place parmesan cheese in circles the size of a quarter on a silpat, about 1/2 inch apart.
- Place cheese in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is nicely browned. Set aside to cool completely before lifting.
- Place all the other ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly to combine.
- If the dressing is too thick, you can thin it out with 1-2 tablespoons of water.
- Re-adjust seasoning as desired.
- Serve rustically in a large bowl with parmesan tuiles around the edge, or individually with 1 or 2 tuiles as garnish.
Notes
** The "P" here is the fact that mayonnaise is a "Pantry Essential!"
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