It is officially fall! That means tall boots, cozy sweaters, hot coffee, and soup for dinner! Right? Right… if you live somewhere other than Southern California. As I sit here typing, the sun is shining bright outside and it is over 90 degrees out there. Too hot. I am in my living room with the air conditioner blasting.

We can still enjoy all the fall flavors, even if it is too hot for soup. Let’s just have them in a seasonally appropriate ginger pear salad instead. We have some lovely peppery arugula here topped with sliced pears and toasted pecans. Then we’ll dress it all up with a ginger apple cider vinaigrette. Simple and super fallish even if it isn’t pumpkin flavored and even if we’re wearing sundresses instead of scarves.

Definitely add some goat cheese to this salad if you want to give it a little something extra. I was serving this with butternut squash soup, which has goat cheese in it already, so I left it out. If this were all for myself and not part of some super fancy menu, then I would have had goat cheese with every course of the meal! Can never have too much in my book.

What are your favorite fall flavors?!

Ginger Pear Salad

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Ingredients

• 12 ounces arugula
• 2-3 pears, thinly sliced
• 50 grams (1/2 cup) pecan halves
• 30 grams (14 cup) dried cranberries
• 4 fluid ounces (1/2 cup) apple cider vinegar
• 4 fluid ounces (1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons honey
• pinch of kosher salt

Instructions

1. Place the arugula, sliced pears, pecans, and dried cranberries in a large salad bowl and toss to combine.
2. In a mason jar, combine the vinegar, oil, ginger, honey, and salt. Secure the lid tightly and shake to combine the ingredients.
3. Add dressing to salad as desired.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 239Total Fat: 1gCarbohydrates: 63gProtein: 2g