Wholesome Food - Winter Salad with Pear and Blue Cheese

I keep getting lettuce in my veg boxes.  We really don't eat a lot (read: any) salads in the winter because it's cold and I want to eat things that are warm.  I think that makes total sense, but the veg box people just keep giving us lettuce, expecting us to use it.  

So, use it I am, and if I'm honest it's a handy way to use up a lot of stuff in the house.

The other day I had one pear that needed using up, along with some fabulous crumbly blue cheese, some pine nuts and some pomegranate.  Pomegranate is great for salads because it's colorful, tangy, and lasts in the fridge for aaaaaaaaaaaages.  

Anyway, back to me wanting hot food in the winter - I was sure I read somewhere about caramelized balsamic pears so I decided to give it a go.

I quartered the pear and removed the stock and seeds, and plopped it in a hot frying pan with plenty of butter.  Once I was happy with it's browning, I poured in about 2-3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and whacked up the heat enough to start burning the sugar (not the intention, but it got the job done). 

When I was satisfied with the browning on the pear I took it out of the pan and let it cool enough to let me slice it up without burning myself.

I added it to a mixed salad that included, as I said above, blue cheese, pomegranates and toasted pine nuts.  It made a great sweet (pears)/salty (cheese)/tangy (pomegranate) winter salad.