I know, I know.  It is November, and the weather has turned chilly.  And yes, I have stated previously that I am a seasonal eater and have begun making soups instead of salads.  However, last week we had a slightly warmer day, so I couldn’t resist the urge for one more salad dinner.

Working with a base of various lettuces, I decided that this salad could have a touch of autumn added to it if I made a cranberry vinaigrette.  Using pears, pecans, and blue cheese as toppings, this salad would have some great contrasts in flavors from the tartness of the cranberries to the sweetness of the pears to the bite of the blue cheese.

To make the vinaigrette I wanted to emphasize the flavor of the cranberries and create a dressing that wasn’t heavy on oil.  Although I prefer my salad dressing to be light with oil, I decided to try and make this recipe a little thicker.  I found that it worked very well for me, as I prefer to keep my dressing on the side and dip my fork tines into the dressing.  However, my husband prefers to place his dressing on his salad and found it to be a bit thick.  For those who like a thinner dressing, more vinegar or oil could be added, depending on the flavor you want to emphasize.