I heard a song the other day and my mind drifted to Thursday nights on the SCSU campus when we’d head downtown for a night of dress-up, dancing, and adventure!
I guess it’s a hazard of my job that my memory landed on BAR New Haven’s signature salad. I can still remember being served their famous pizza and salad with a side of too-loud (even for young ears) techno.
I also remembered how crave-able that salad was. So I Googled and found the ingredients listed on the menu!
Now, I changed up the ingredients slightly to make this salad a bit more healthful – without sacrificing the walk down memory lane.
Only this time, instead of sitting crammed in a booth with my best friends, my husband and I enjoyed the salad with pizza and beer in our comfy, and definitely not Thursday night appropriate, college sweats.
The topic of conversation, “Would we have liked each other in college?”
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BAR Salad: A College Memory
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 5
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Ingredients
- 2.5 oz. Organic Mixed Greens or Spring Mix $1.99 for 2.5 oz.
- 1 Chopped Bosch Pear (bite-size pieces) $1.32
- 1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans (Raw & Unsalted) $0.82 for 1 oz.
- 1/4 Cup Dried Cranberries $0.56 for 1 oz.
- 2 Tsp. Honey $0.83 for 1 oz.
- Bleu Cheese Crumbles $1.12 for 1 oz.
- Fine Sea Salt
Salad Dressing:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Course Sea Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- On a small parchment lined sheet pan toss the chopped pecans with honey and sprinkle of fine sea salt.
- Place in over and let roast 5-7 minutes (just until the pecan mixture is warm).
- Whisk dressing in bottom of serving bowl (recipe is below in Notes).
- Toss in mixed greens and chopped pear.
- Remove pecans from oven and add another sprinkle of salt to enhance the salty/sweetness.
- Top with pecans, bleu cheese crumbles, and dried cranberries.
- Serve with pizza and college cocktail of your choice! 😉
Notes
I always make my own dressing! This is a great way to control your ingredients and keep an eye on your daily sugar intake. My go-to dressing is simple: extra virgin olive oil whisked together with apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper. I like a more sour dressing to support liver detoxification and boost digestion, so I’ll use a 2:1 ratio (example: 2 Tbsp. vinegar to 1 Tbsp. oil).
Here are a few tips:
1. Any vinegar can be used in this recipe. Use what you like and what you have on hand!
2. Pour your vinegar into the bowl first, then add the salt and pepper – the salt will dissolve in the vinegar – and then whisk in the oil to emulsify. No one wants to bite into a hard piece of salt. Ouch!
3. Dip a piece of the salad mix into the dressing to taste (not your finger or a spoon) and then adjust seasoning.
4. Whisk up the dressing in the bottom of the serving bowl, then toss in your ingredients. This ensures a light, even coating – and easy clean up!