Recipe: Roasted Plum and Arugula Salad With Smoky Blue Cheese

Serves 4

Salad:

4 plums, halved, pits removed (see Kitchen Notes*)

About 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons honey

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

6 to 8 cups arugula, washed and dried

1 cup thinly sliced radicchio

½ cup crumbled smoky blue cheese (see Kitchen Notes**)

Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons honey

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. To prepare salad: Roast plums in a preheated 350-degree oven. Place halved plums flesh side up in an 8-inch square baking pan and drizzle with olive oil, making sure all sides of fruit are coated. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle lightly with pepper. Roast until plums are cooked and slightly softened but have not collapsed, about 15 to 18 minutes. Set aside to cool; if there are cooking juices left in pan, reserve.

2. To prepare vinaigrette: Whisk together vinegar, honey and oil in a small bowl; seas

on with salt and pepper. Whisk in the reserved cooking juices from plums.

3. To finish salad: In a large bowl, toss arugula and radicchio with just enough dressing to coat leaves. Divide salad among individual plates and place 2 plum halves on the edge of greens. (The plums can also be sliced into wedges.) Top with crumbled cheese and drizzle a bit more dressing over salad. Serve immediately.

Times Kitchen Notes:

* Apricots, nectarines, plumcots or pluots can replace the plums in this recipe.

** We used Rogue Creamery's smoked blue cheese in this recipe. Look for it at cheese shops and grocers with a large selection of cheeses. Gorgonzola or another blue cheese would also be fine.

Adapted from "Raising the Salad Bar: Beyond Leafy Greens — Inventive Salads With Beans, Whole Grains, Pasta, Chicken and More" by Catherine Walthers