Roasted Pears with Blue Cheese = My homerun of the weekend

Last night we had my parents over for dinner. And then we went to see Iron Man 2, but we won't talk about that because I'm starting to lose it just thinking of hunky Mr. Downey! Anyway, I was able to kill not only 2 birds by having them over, but 4. Yep, 4. I tried 3 new recipes last night, and luckily they were all big, big hits. I'm pretty sure everyone's fave was this salad, though. At least that was the vibe I got when Dick licked his bowl clean. Just like the dear in Snow White. Which is why I just invited Mom & Dad to my house rather than a restaurant...I can't take him anywhere! teasing, teasing. You'll be inviting everyone you know over for dinner so that you can dazzle them with this scrumptious, fancy-looking, but super simple salad, too.

Roasted Pears with Blue Cheese

Ina Garten from the Food Network

Ingredients

3 ripe but firm Anjou pears

Freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)

3 oz. coarsely crumbled sharp blue cheese

1/4 c. dried cranberries

1/4 c. walnut halves, toasted & chopped

1/2 c. apple cider

1/3 c. light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/4 c. good olive oil

6 oz. baby arugula (I used leafy green lettuce)

Kosher salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.

Peel the pears & slice lengthwise into halves. Remove the core & seeds from each pear, leaving a round well for the filling. Trim a small slice away from the rounded sides of each pear half so that they will sit in the baking dish without wobbling. Toss the pears with some lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown. Arrange them, core side up, in a baking dish large enough to hold the pears snugly.

Gently toss the blue cheese, dried cranberries, & walnuts together in a small bowl. Divide the mixture among the pears, mounding it on top of the indentation.

In the same small bowl, combine the apple cider and brown sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the mixture over and around the pears. Bake the pears, basting occasionally with the cider mixture, for 30 minutes, or until tender. Set aside until warm or at room temp.

Just before serving, whisk together the olive oil, 1/4 c. of lemon juice, and 1/4 c. of the basting liquid in a large bowl. Divide the arugula among 6 plates and top each with a pear half. Drizzle each pear with some of the basting liquid, sprinkle with salt & serve warm.