Vegan MoFo: Iron Chef Challenge: Pears and Nuts

Today was the second day of Portland Nursery's Apple Tasting (I have this post to thank for reminding me), and since our late morning resulted in us missing another farmers market, we thought it was a good day to sample apples! And pears!

I get just as excited about the pears as I do the apples, and I especially love to sample the variety of asian pears. Usually 20th Century is a good pick, but this time we found a different one we like, Hosui, a variety that's apparently especially apt to Willamette Valley growing conditions. In addition to Hosui pears, we picked up lots of cute little Seckel Pears (pictured) and just two (why just two?) Cascade Pears, a variety native to the Cascade Range.

After a solid week or more of heavier dishes, both AA and I were craving salad. When we got back to the neighborhood after our tasting adventure, lugging bags of apples and pears all the way home, I stopped by the coop to get celeriac and a block of tofu cause I had a particular salad in mind.


When I was testing for Joanna's first cookbook (that's "me" on the right!), I tested a salad that never made the book but that I came to love: "Celery Root and Apple Salad." I think that the combination of lightly cooked celeriac and crisp fruit works so well, and I was excited by the idea of trying this out with our cascade pears, super fresh and very firm.

I made the "Sunflower Feta" that she suggests to top the salad, but instead of sunflower seeds, I used local hazelnuts from Freddy Guy's. It's not a subtle change -- the hazelnuts become super prominent -- but I think the sweet nuttiness complimented the sweet pears so well. And because the theme of this weekend is fenugreek just might be the answer to everything, I sprinkled some on top!


So here it is, my entry in this week's Iron Chef Challenge: Pears and Nuts. With pear as the state fruit and hazelnut as the state nut, this dish is so very Oregon!

While I'm kinda bummed that we're already out of cascade pears, I've still got lots of apples. We got Beni Shogun Fujis, Gourmet Goldens, Mutsus, Smoothie Goldens, and Winter Bananas. I've got enough apples to make me want to go back and do last week's challenge!

If you're local and you decide to head out there, don't let the long line at the tasting tables intimidate you. They move pretty quickly. But whatever you do, don't just head to the market section to buy the ones you liked last year. Some of our favorites from last year like King David and Spitzenberg tasted just "so so" to us this year.