North Star Orchard • Asian Pear Recipes

Asian Pear Recipes

ASIAN PEAR SALAD
This is similar to those fancy asian pear salads you tend to find in more upscale restaurants. Super-easy to make, and easy to vary the ingredients to your liking. (Try different kinds of greens, cheese, or add other veggies). Asian pears are a great addition to most any salad...a little bit of that sweet crunch does amazing things! Plus, most of the main ingredients you can still find at the Farmers' Market!
4 cups of mixed greens (baby greens are the best!) 1 head of radicchio 2 medium Asian Pears, diced 1 1/2 T. white wine vinegar 1/2 t. Dijon mustard 4 t. olive oil 1/2 t. sugar Salt and pepper to taste Feta cheese (or other type) to taste	Tear the greens and radicchio into bite-sized pieces. Combine greens and diced pears in a salad bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk vinegar and mustard. Add oil while whisking. Add salt, pepper, and sugar. Top salad with crumbled feta. Drizzle salad dressing on top, to taste. Serves 4
ANOTHER GREAT ASIAN PEAR SALAD From Nancy
Baby spinach Asian pear walnuts poppy seed salad dressing	I use about 2 cups spinach, 1 diced Asian pear, 1/4 cup walnuts and poppy seed dressing for one meal sized salad. Nancy says, "It's been my lunch every day this week. Yum!"
WALDORF SALAD - WITH ASIAN PEARS! From Louisa
1 1/2 Asian pears, peeled and diced At least 20 seedless red grapes or more, (halved if large) At least 2 celery stalks, sliced 1/4 to 1/2 cup of broken walnuts Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip, to taste	The amounts all depends on the size of the pears. Serve on cobb lettuce or a other nice-looking mild lettuce. The above recipe served 6 people as a side salad. Other Waldorf Salad option from Lisa: For a different dressing, try using cottage cheese! I use no- or low-fat cottage cheese (about 1/4 c.), processed in the blender or food processor until smooth! Yummy!
APPLE-ASIAN PEAR SALAD
2 T. vegetable oil 1 T. apple cider 1 T. apple cider vinegar 1 T. honey 2/3 c. pecan halves 1 bunch watercress or mixed fresh greens, trimmed 2 apples, sliced thinly (red apples add color) 2 Asian pears, sliced thinly 6 oz. Crumbled bleu cheese	Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Combine oil, cider, cider vinegar, and honey in a small jar with a tight-fitting lid; shake well to combine. Toast pecans on baking sheet in preheated oven for 7 minutes or until crisp and fragrant; set aside. Arrange greens on 6 chilled salad plates. Arrange apple and Asian pear slices on top of greens. Sprinkle with bleu cheese and pecans. Shake dressing once more and drizzle over each plate. Serves 6
ASIAN PEAR SLAW
2 celery ribs, cut into ¼” matchsticks 3 T. lime juice 2 T. seasoned rice vinegar 1 t. finely-grated peeled fresh ginger 2 Asian pears cut into ¼” thick matchsticks 2 scallions, sliced thin diagonally ¼ c. fresh cilantro leaves ½ t. finely chopped fresh hot red chile pepper (or to taste)	Whisk together juice, vinegar, and ginger. Mix in celery and remaining ingredients with salt and pepper to taste. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving. Serves 6
STUFFED ASIAN PEAR SALAD
½ cup low-fat cottage cheese 1 T. lemon juice ¼ t. ground cinnamon 1T. Chopped pecans 2 medium-sized Asian pears, halved, cored, and thinly sliced Lettuce leaves	Combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl and beat until well blended. Fold in pecans and set aside. Fan pear slices on a bed of lettuce, and top each with 1 ½ T. of mixture. Chill well before serving. Serves 4
ASIAN PEAR DESSERT PIZZA
Basic pizza dough (see recipe below) ¼ cup plus 2 T. sugar, divided Butter-flavored vegetable cooking spray 2 T. honey 2 large Asian pears, cored and sliced ½ t. ground cinnamon ¼ cup (1 oz.) crumbled bleu cheese 2 T. raisins 2-4 tablespoons coarsely chopped walnuts	Make basic pizza dough (see recipe below), adding 2 tablespoons sugar to flour. Spray 12-inch pizza pan with cooking spray. Spread dough on pan, making rim around edge. Drizzle dough with honey. Arrange Asian pears on dough, spray with cooking spray and then sprinkle with remaining 1/4 c. sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle bleu cheese, raisins, and walnuts over pears. Bake pizza at 425 degrees until crust is browned, 15 to 20 minutes
Basic pizza crust
1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour, divided 1 package fast-rising yeast ½ t. sugar 1/3 teaspoon salt ½ cup very hot water (120 degrees)	Combine ¾ c. flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in medium bowl. Add hot water, stirring until smooth. Mix in enough of remaining ½ c. flour to make a soft dough. Knead dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic, 3 to 5 minutes. Cover dough with bowl; let stand 15 minutes before using. Spread dough on pan according to directions in pizza recipe.
NORTH STAR ASIAN PEAR BUCKLE Created by Lori L.
Base: 4-6 slices of bread, crusts removed (prefer raisin bread) Asian Pear Mixture: 1/3 c. milk or cream 3 T. honey* 3 c. Asian Pears, peeled and sliced 1/8” thick Topping: 8 oz. Softened cream cheese (regular, not light) ½ c. honey* ¼ c. cream (heavy, light, or half & half) *Flavored honeys (except for Buckwheat) are great.	Preheat oven to 350. Spray 8X8 pan with nonstick cooking spray. Fit bread into base of pan one layer thick…piecing if necessary. Don’t use strong breads such as rye or pumpernickel. My favorite bread for this is Atlanta Bread’s Raisin…sliced thick. In food processor, combine cream cheese, cream and honey. Process until smooth (light cream cheese is too thin/soft). Mix 1/3 c. milk with 3 T. honey until combined. Toss in pears. Layer pear mixture over bread. Spread cream cheese mixture on top as evenly as possible. Bake at 350 for 20-35 minutes. Broil until topping turns golden (3-7 min.) (The idea is to pop in oven while eating dinner…then broil right before serving)
VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE with ASIAN PEAR BUTTER
If you have a 'vegan-suspicious' family ... just don't tell them ... they'll never know! Of course, you could just use regular milk and margarine, if you prefer. I like it because there are no eggs in the recipe.
Cake: 3 scant cups all purpose flour 2 tsp. baking soda 1 1/2 tsp. salt 2 cups sugar 1 cup cocoa 1 cup warm coffee 1 1/3 cups warm water 1/2 cup apple butter/Asian pear butter 2 Tbl.vinegar 2 tsp. vanilla 1 ¼ cup canola oil Vegan margarine Frosting: 1/4 lb. semi-sweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup soymilk	Preheat oven to 350 F Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in the wet ingredients and mix until the batter is free of lumps. Grease a bundt pan (or 9 X 13 pan) with margarine. Bake at 350 for approximately one hour or until the batter springs back when lightly touched. Cool for about 15 minutes before inverting pan onto a plate or cake stand. Frosting (if desired): Melt ¼ pound semi-sweet chocolate chips in ½ cup soymilk. Beat the mixture until smooth and pourable. When the cake has cooled completely, pour the icing over the top and allow it to drip down the sides of the cake. Yield: 12 large slices.