With arugula, spinach, lemon zest, hazelnuts, goat cheese – and dressed with a pineapple juice and mint vinaigrette – this ham and pear salad is gorgeous, craveable, and absolutely guest-worthy.
Ham and Pear Salad
Course: Salads4
dinner-sized servings8
salad-course servingsUse the food processor to chop the hazelnuts before making the dressing. If you like lightly dressed salads, make only a half-batch of the dressing.
Ingredients
- For the vinaigrette:
1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 Tbs Dijon
Leaves from two large springs of mint
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper, or more to taste
1/8 tsp garlic powder, or more to taste (optional)
1/4 cup olive oil
- For the salad:
1 cup shelled hazelnuts, chopped not too finely
1 head butter lettuce, leaves gently torn into large pieces
2½ oz. baby spinach, gently torn into large pieces
2½ oz. arugula, gently torn into large pieces
2 medium pears, unpeeled, rinsed, cored, and diced
8 oz. lean cooked ham, cut into bite-sized strips
1 medium carrot, (peeled and) cut into matchsticks
2 thinly sliced green onions
- For garnish:
5 oz. goat cheese
Fresh mint sprigs
Lemon zest
Freshly cracked black pepper
Directions
- Make the vinaigrette.
- Pulse the everything but the oil in a food processor fitted with the steel blade, until the mint is chopped, 10 one-second pulses, allowing the liquid to come to a stop between each pulse. Drizzle in the oil while processing on high speed. Makes 1½ cups. Can be made in advance and refrigerated, up to 1 week. Shake before using.
- Make the salad.
- Cook the nuts in a dry, pre-heated skillet over a medium flame (setting 4 out of 9), stirring casually but constantly, until they darken and become fragrant, 4 minutes. Pour into a shallow bowl. Use a fork to lift out the larger and average-sized pieces and transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Examine the amount, and hold some back if it’s more than you’d prefer. Leave the nut dust and smallest pieces in the shallow bowl; set aside.
- Divide the butter lettuce between plates or pasta bowls. Toss all remaining salad ingredients with the hazelnuts in the large mixing bowl. Dress to taste with the vinaigrette. Divide between plates, atop the butter lettuce.
- Crumble the goat cheese into large, bite-sized pieces. Roll them lightly in the nut dust. Distribute them among the salads. Tuck a few small mint springs here and there into each salad. Use a microplane zester to garnish each salad lightly with lemon. Hit each one with a bit of coarsely ground black pepper. Serve with extra dressing on the side.
Notes
- Substitutions: blue goat cheese or blue cheese for the goat cheese, leaf lettuce for the butter lettuce, and pecans for the hazelnuts.
Social Learning
The taste of pineapple is subtle in the dressing, and not detectable once you’ve added the dressing to the salad. That doesn’t stop this from the overall effect from being fantastic, though, and buying a big can of pineapple juice just to make this dressing is definitely worth it.
With the leftover pineapple juice, make jello. Pour two cups of juice into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle two (three is too many) packets of unflavored geletin onto it, without stirring, and let that hydrate for 2-3 minutes, while you microwave 2 more cups of juice just until you see it’s about to boil. Pour the hot juice into the mixing bowl, and whisk for 2 minutes straight. Refrigerate.
Use ham that’s been cut for sandwiches, but not processed … ham off the bone, thinly sliced.
You have to be very careful using the processor to chop the nuts, because it will turn them to tiny pieces very quickly. Err on the side of “not enough,” and take a knife to them afterward if need be.
The garlic powder gives the dressing more depth, but it doesn’t necessarily need it.
See references for alternative dressings.
The Backstory
Pears ripen in autumn, off the tree. Some of them require a long stint of cold storage after picking, making them early winter fruits. But like so many fruits, 21st-century shoppers can find them all year long. So you can consider this a winter salad if you want to, or you can enjoy it whenever you want. To my way of thinking, this is an absolutely fabulous salad to have out on the deck, when the temperatures are in the 70s and humidity is low. Pair it with iced tea or homemade limeade, and follow it up with a lemon tart.
Like so many fruits, it’s hard to know if you have a great pear on your hands until you bite into one. If the pears you bring home for this salad are delirously good, you’re in for a fatastic salad. If they’re average, still – good salad. If they’re not that good at all, or hard as a rock, sautee them in a very small amount of butter and then toss them either warm or at room temperature into the salad.
Adult Lunchbox
This is a great salad to take to work with you. Pack the undressed salad in a large container, leaving about an inch of room at the top. Pack the dressing separately in a small container that you can tuck into the salad. When the time comes, pour the dressing into the salad, put the lid back on, and shake.
Ham and Pear Salad
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man!, unless otherwise indicated. Thank you, Kesor. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. References: “Ham and Pear Salad,” in Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. (Des Moines, IA: BHG, 1996), 427. See also: BBC Good Food, Eat Smarter, My Incredible Recipes, The Epicurious Panda, The Local Palate. Make It Like a Man! has been ranked by Feedspot as #13 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs!
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This sounds perfect! I have a pear tree filled with almost ripe pears and a ham in the freezer.
This is fabulous. A very interesting dressing with the pineapple, and I bet that pairs beautifully with the ham. Love the hazelnuts.
This gives me a Fall vibe…and I do enjoy the combo of ham and pear in salads.
Yes, this salad definitely does look guest-worthy! I just bit into a peach that was still hard and green inside. Maybe I’ll take your advice and saute’ it in a little butter- maybe that will fix it!
yes i usually end up roasting my pears as they are always hard and tasteless by the time they get here to queensland. They don’t want to ship ’em when they’re ripe! this sounds delightful Jeff.
I’d like to order one of these up for dinner. Looks delicious.
Great salad! I like the combination of arugula and spinach.
I don’t eat ham, but hard boiled eggs would be a good substitution.
Adoro le tue insalate! Sono fantastiche!
This salad looks so fresh and tasty! I love the idea of adding ham and pear to a green salad, it adds some sweetness and protein. I will definitely give it a try. Thank you for sharing this creative recipe, you have a great sense of food pairing.
Thank you!
What a fabulous salad for the hot and humid days we are having. I love your tip about keeping the dressing separate and pouring it into the container and shaking it with the lid on to distribute it. Sometimes I just pour the dressing into the bottom of the container and shake it up when I am ready to eat but the salad gets a bit soggy at the bottom.
I’ve heard of that technique! I wonder if you could put something in the bottom that wouldn’t sog, like corn?
A super salad, Jeff. I love all the flavors and textures, and it is perfect for our 110°F heat these days!
110!!!
My friends would be thrilled if I served them this salad, love the mix of sweet and salty flavors.
Thanks, Karen!
Craveable indeed. What a fantastic combo of flavors and textures, down to every last detail. Amazing! 🙂 ~Valentina
Thank you!