This healthy frisée salad with fennel and pear can be served as a simple side salad and is perfect for the fall and winter. Serve it with a honey mustard vinaigrette and top it with my favourite sweet and spicy pecans and crumbled blue cheese. You can easily prep this in advance and dress it before serving.
Here's everything you'll need to make this frisée, pear and fennel salad with blue cheese and pecans.
Although frisée looks like a lettuce, it's actually curly endive and part of the chicory plant family.
As for the taste, it has a slightly bitter flavour, though not as bitter as endive. The curly leaves make it a gorgeous green to add to salads.
It pairs well with bolder flavours, like a strong dressing, or cheese.
If you can't find frisée, you can substitute with endive, radicchio or arugula. Keep in mind that frisée is milder in terms of bitterness compared to endive or radicchio.
Making this fennel and pear salad with frisée is really easy. The first thing you'll want to do is prepare the sweet and spicy sticky pecans.
I love making a big batch of these pecans and using them on tops of salads, like on this persimmon and arugula winter salad and in this apple farro salad.
Combine the pecans, maple syrup, Aleppo pepper, chili powder and cinnamon in a skillet and mix together. Turn on the stove to medium heat. Cook for about four to six minutes, stirring often until bubbly and toasted. Adjust the heat as needed to avoid burning.
During the last minute, drizzle with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of sea salt and turn off the heat. Let them cool out of the skillet and on a plate. Roughly chop or leave them whole and set them aside.
After the pecans are done, it's time to make the dressing and the pear and fennel salad.
In a jar or bowl, combine the lemon juice, vinegar, mustard and honey. Start whisking while slowly drizzling in the oil. Keep whisking until fully incorporated and emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.
Place the frisée and fennel in a large salad bowl. Add some of the dressing and toss to combine. Add the pear, pecans and blue cheese and toss gently to combine. Add more dressing as needed. Serve and enjoy!
I share these products to show you what I choose to use in my kitchen as staple ingredients I use daily (or weekly).
Kosher salt:
I exclusively use Diamond Crystal kosher salt for all of my recipes. I prefer the texture, taste and consistency of this brand and highly recommend it for everyday cooking.
Flaky salt:
I always, always have Maldon flaky salt on hand and add it to almost all of my dishes as a finishing salt. I can't recommend this enough.
Aleppo pepper:
I love using Aleppo pepper in recipes because the flavour isn't too strong or spicy. It's one of my most used spices and I highly recommend it.
If you love a good salad, be sure to check these out!
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If you make this frisée, fennel and pear salad, please let me know by tagging me on Instagram, or leave a comment and/or review below!
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This frisée, fennel and pear salad is a simple side salad that's perfect for fall and winter. Top with candied pecans and blue cheese and enjoy!
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