Brussels Sprout, Pear and Blue Cheese Salad

Looking for a great salad to go with your Thanksgiving dinner?  Well this is salad is full of amazing fall flavors while remaining light.  I love using shaved brussels sprouts as the base of salads because they are hearty and can hold up to bold flavors.  This salad was inspired by the Harry & David pears my grandma sent us.  I've been using a lot of goat cheese in my salads recently, so I decided to switch things up a little bit with this one.  Pears and blue cheese - a great combo right?  Well that's what I thought and the combination of pears + blue cheese + balsamic vinaigrette was absolutely perfect.  Add some pepitas and dried cranberries and you've got an easy and delicious fall salad that would be a great accompaniment to any Thanksgiving dinner.

I know I'm a little late for Thanksgiving this year (where has the time gone??), but this salad is just a great all-around fall salad and would be a great side for Christmas dinner as well.  With all the heavy foods we eat around the holidays, it's nice to have something light that's still packed with flavor.  Not a big fan of blue cheese?  Well, that's too bad, but you could substitute goat cheese as an alternative.

Total Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 5

Ingredients:

2 lbs brussels sprouts, shaved

3 pears, thinly sliced

1 cup dried cranberries

8 oz blue cheese

1 cup pepitas

Balsamic vinaigrette

Instructions;

1. Add shaved brussels sprouts to a large bowl and top with pears, blue cheese, pepitas and dried cranberries.
2. Toss with balsamic vinaigrette and serve immediately.

*If you're meal prepping this salad, don't slice the pears until immediately before.  If you slice them ahead of time, they'll start to turn brown and mushy.