Pear Gorgonzola Salad

The Red Sox are on a streak and the whole city is insufferable about it, which is the correct way to be when your team is winning. Sean D. and I watched three games this week — two on TV, one at a bar in Southie where the bartender knows my name because he went to school with Patrick and everyone in this neighborhood is connected by approximately two degrees of separation and at least one mutual grudge.

Work this week brought a small miracle: Mr. Chen is back for a follow-up and his scans are clean. Clean. I don't use that word lightly in oncology because clean doesn't mean cured, it means for now, it means keep watching, it means hold your breath and hope. But Lily Chen walked into my floor with a thermos of congee and a smile that could power the city grid and said, "For you. Celebration congee." I asked if celebration congee was different from regular congee. She said, "Same recipe. Different heart." I think about that constantly.

I've been experimenting in the kitchen — something about summer makes me want to try new things instead of reaching for Maureen's standards. I made a grilled peach salad on Wednesday that would have made Maureen deeply suspicious. Arugula, grilled peaches, burrata, balsamic. It was beautiful and delicious and when I described it to Maureen on the phone she said, "That sounds like something they'd serve in Cambridge." In Maureen's taxonomy, Cambridge food is simultaneously acknowledged as edible and dismissed as pretentious. She's not wrong about either thing.

Sean D. is packing for his move to the West Broadway apartment. His current place in Dorchester is a disaster of boxes and half-wrapped dishes and one bewildered houseplant he insists on keeping alive despite zero evidence that he's capable of sustained botanical care. I helped him pack Saturday after pancakes. We wrapped mugs in newspaper and talked about whether we'd move in together someday. "Someday soon," he said, wrapping a coffee mug in an article about the Celtics. I didn't say anything. I just wrapped the next mug and smiled at the newspaper.

Sunday at the three-decker. Maureen made her summer spaghetti — cold pasta with raw tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil. It's the one dish she makes that isn't heavy, and she only makes it in June because she says tomatoes aren't real tomatoes until June. She's not wrong about that either.

After grilling peaches on a Wednesday just because summer made me feel daring, I realized I’d stumbled onto something — fruit and cheese and greens together, a combination that feels like a small act of self-expression every time you make it. The Pear Gorgonzola Salad below is cut from the same cloth as my Wednesday experiment: a little unexpected, a little beautiful, and exactly the kind of thing Maureen would acknowledge as edible while side-eyeing the zip code it came from. I’ve made my peace with Cambridge food. This one’s worth it.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

5 oz mixed greens or arugula
2 ripe pears, thinly sliced (Bosc or Bartlett work well)
3/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1/2 cup candied walnuts
1/4 red onion, very thinly sliced
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, and Dijon mustard until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Toast the walnuts (if not using pre-candied). In a small dry skillet over medium heat, toast walnut halves for 3–4 minutes, tossing frequently, until fragrant. Remove from heat and drizzle lightly with honey and a pinch of salt; stir to coat and let cool on parchment paper.
Prepare the pears. Core and slice the pears just before assembling — this keeps them from browning. A thin, even slice lets them fan nicely across the salad.
Assemble the salad. Spread the greens across a wide serving platter or in a large bowl. Arrange the pear slices over the top. Scatter the red onion, candied walnuts, and crumbled gorgonzola evenly across the salad.
Dress and serve. Drizzle the balsamic dressing over the salad just before serving. Toss gently or serve undressed at the table. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Pear Gorgonzola Salad — The Salad Maureen Would Call Cambridge Food