Make this spinach salad recipe to serve with your favorite main dishes! This fresh spinach salad features seasonal fruit, creamy goat cheese, toasted pecans, just enough red onion, and the perfect amount of vinaigrette. It’s finished with a drizzle of thick balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze.

This spinach salad is beautiful, absolutely delicious, and holiday worthy. It’s also easily adjusted to the changing seasons, and simple enough to make on a weeknight. Hooray!

You’ll see raspberries in these photos, which are wonderful. You’re not limited to raspberries, though—this spinach salad would be equally great with apples, pears, strawberries and more. You’ll find a full list of options below.

I’ve created quite a few green salad recipes over the years, but not a lot of spinach salad recipes. Arugula, kale, romaine and spring greens are usually my fresh greens of choice. The other day, I tried a spinach salad at a local French restaurant that inspired me to give fresh spinach in salads another chance. Let me tell you, this spinach salad is worth making! I love it and hope you do, too.

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I can’t take my eyes off this salad! The concept came to me as I was improvising a big green salad for Friendsgiving this year. Salads are often overlooked at the holidays, so I set out to make a festive red-and-green showstopper.

I knew I wanted to incorporate ruby-red pomegranate arils and fresh pear, since they’re both so delicious this time of year. I added Honeycrisp apple, goat cheese and pecans for good measure.

To make the dressing taste festive and cut through the sweetness of the fruit, I added fresh ginger to my basic apple cider vinaigrette. Believe me, this salad tastes as good as it looks.

This salad might look fancy, but it’s simple to put together. You’ll want to pay extra attention to how you prepare the ingredients, so I’ve typed up some tips below. If you’re craving some greens to get you through the holidays, or already working on your holiday menu, this salad is for you!

Watch How to Make Pomegranate & Pear Salad

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I’m sharing this pear and cranberry crisp in time for your holiday feasts, though it’s a lovely dessert to enjoy any time this fall or winter. It tastes better than pie, if you ask me, and it’s much easier to make! This pear crisp recipe is fresh, simple and happens to be gluten free.

The recipe follows my time-tested formula for fruity crisps. I filled it with ripe pears and tart fresh cranberries (optional), which sweeten up as they bake. The topping is made with oats and almond flour, which yield a crisp, golden topping that’s tender underneath. Toasted walnuts, browned butter and warming spices round out the flavors for a dessert that you’ll want to make again and again.

This cranberry-studded crisp has been one of my favorite desserts for over ten years, and I’m sharing it again today with updated photos and tips. Make it for Christmas, and enjoy leftovers for breakfast with Greek yogurt.

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What day is it again? Thursday? How did Thursday happen? To tell you the truth, losing track of time is not my only problem. I’m struggling here, in this new living situation. I lost a significant amount of counter space and gave up my dishwasher to move to Kansas City. Worst of all, I can’t seem to figure out the lighting in my new place. One cloud rolls overhead and all the rooms go dark.

Yesterday evening, I tried in vain to catch the last rays of golden sunlight by propping up this tray of crostini on a precarious ledge next to a window. The whole thing fell to the floor with a clatter, leaving a trail of sticky honey on my leg, goat cheese on the tile and little shards of ceramic plate all over my sunroom. I was about ready to give up on ever taking a decent picture in this place. This morning, however, beautiful light is streaming in through all the windows. I can’t decide if the light is taunting me or encouraging me to try, try again, but try again I will. Here’s to hoping I’ll have this figured out and be back to my regular posting schedule next week.

These little toasts were supposed to be a quick and easy post, a light meal to help make up for an extravagant, extended wedding weekend in Colorado. In my never-ending quest to find the best flavor combinations, however, I just had to try goat cheese crostini with arugula, figs, balsamic and sherry vinegar, raspberries and pears, and in the process justified massive consumption of cheese and bread for two days straight. Typical!

Here’s my favorite variation: grilled whole wheat crostini spread with goat cheese, topped with slices of pear and a couple of raspberries, and finished with a drizzle of honey, a sprinkling of black pepper and a squeeze of lemon. They are pretty perfect for this awkward time between summer and fall, and make for a quick snack or impressive appetizer.

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The holidays are upon us, so what better way to ring them in than with some new cocktail recipes? Today I present my first holiday cocktail, which contains reposado tequila, pear nectar, honey and spices. If you braved the stores this morning for Black Friday deals, you’re going to need at least one of these.

If you’re put off by the idea of tequila combined with pears, please hear me out: reposado tequila tastes quite a bit different from the silver or blanco tequila used in margaritas. Reposado is Spanish for rested, which means that reposado tequila is aged for a short time (between two months and a year) in oak barrels. Bourbon is also aged in oak barrels, so bourbon and reposado tequila share some of the same oaky flavors. If you have bourbon on hand, feel free to substitute it for the tequila; the drink is good both ways.

I’ve also turned this drink into a holiday punch recipe. If you’re serving a crowd, be sure to check that one out!

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