18 sear salad recipes

A refreshing, tasty and light salad is made with crunchy lotus roots, carrot, celery and wood ears, tossed with a flavorful soy-ginger dressing. Make it a day ahead, keep in the refrigerator overnight.

This fresh salad featuring fall pears is a welcome addition to any table. Save time by using pre-washed baby spinach leaves.

Classic Caesar dressing made from scratch with a coddled egg, anchovy fillets, garlic, Parmesan, olive oil, and fresh lemon juice. Thick, creamy, and intensely savory.

Pear Waldorf salad with chopped fresh pears, celery, and nuts tossed in mayonnaise. A fruity twist on the classic Waldorf that swaps apples for juicy, sweet pears. Ready in 10 minutes.

A stunning layered gelatin salad with orange segments, cranberry-banana, and a creamy lemon-cream cheese layer with pears, molded in a fluted tube pan. Retro potluck showstopper.

A Star Trek spin on classic tabbouleh: fluffy bulgur (aka quadrotriticale) tossed with cucumber, tomatoes, green onions, fresh parsley, mint, lemon juice, and olive oil. Boldly go where no grain salad has gone before.

Mushroom and celery root soup with dried and fresh mushrooms, pear, Spanish onion, and a touch of cream pureed into a thick, earthy bisque. Freezes for up to 3 months. Despite the title, this is a rich pureed soup, not a salad.

Fruited spinach salad with papaya or pears and halved grapes in a honey poppy seed vinaigrette. A low-calorie, no-cook side salad ready in 15 minutes.

Mixed red greens and pear salad with a toasted hazelnut vinaigrette made with lemon juice and lemon zest. A light, elegant fall salad with radicchio, endive, and butter lettuce.

Italian shrimp and fennel salad sears sweet shrimp with charred fennel, red bell pepper, capers, and lemon. A bright Mediterranean salad served warm or chilled.

Seared tuna on leaf lettuce: quickly seared tuna over dressed greens with a warm pineapple-ginger-jalapeño salsa, finished with sizzled scallions in smoking olive oil. A restaurant-caliber composed salad for summer entertaining.

Mexican beef salad with seared round steak strips, hominy, olives, and Monterey Jack over lettuce and tomato in a cumin-oregano vinaigrette. A Tex-Mex taco-salad alternative.

Field greens salad with seared shrimp, fresh corn, and a homemade ginger dressing made with pressed ginger juice and champagne vinegar. A light, elegant main-course salad.

Stir-fried beef salad piles seared strips of round steak and crisp-tender vegetables over wilted fresh spinach for a warm, low-calorie main-dish salad. A high-protein dinner in 30 minutes of cook time.

Seared scallop salad on a bed of lettuce with julienned red pepper, enoki mushrooms, and fresh cilantro, dressed in a sesame-ginger lemon vinaigrette.

Soba noodle and cucumber salad with daikon sprouts and seared ahi tuna. A cold Japanese-style noodle plate finished with chile oil drizzle. Light, fresh, restaurant-style.