Pear arugula salad is light a bright. It’s got a tangy citrus dressing with a slight peppery kick. Balanced with the sweetness of the pears and creaminess of avocado in every bite. This is the perfect salad if you are not in the mood for meat or are vegetarian. Arugula naturally has a little bit of a bite in flavour as well so all around the flavours mesh wonderfully. Even the feta which I was skeptical about when first testing this recipe.

Ingredients:

4 cups arugula (you can substitute spinach but arugula is central to the flavour profile of pear arugula salad)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 pear
2 scallions
1/2 avocado
1/2 cup feta (vegan, optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
Salt & pepper

Tips & Tricks:

Toasting: Watch your sunflowers seeds closely in the oven because they will turn brown and burn very quickly.
Pears: make sure that you pick a nice ripe pear that is not still feeling like a rock.
Cutting the Fruits & Avocado: Make sure to keep your chunks of pear and avocado a regular size so that you can get a little bit of everything in each bite.
Feta: Most feta comes in a brine as 1 big block. You can buy the feta pre crumbled but if you are cheap like me just remove your feta from the brine and break it up into pea sized chunks.

Adding Protein to Pear & Arugula Salad:

You can add any kind of protein your heart desires but I recommend:

Chickpeas
Grilled Chicken
Grilled Tofu
A grain as a base like quinoa
Crumpled up bacon