Cheese and fruit is a pairing for all seasons, but autumn fruit is the hands-down champion—more compatible with more cheeses than winter citrus or summer’s berries. Apples, grapes, pears, persimmons, pomegranates….now is their moment. They add color and juicy sweetness to leafy salads with grated blue cheese, crumbled goat cheese or feta, or shaved ricotta salata. Whisk up a vinaigrette with shallots, add toasted nuts for crunch, and you have a season-saluting salad worthy of a dinner party.

Little Gems with Persimmons, Walnuts, Fennel and Blue Cheese

If you’re not a blue cheese fan, substitute shaved ricotta salata.

Firm blue cheese, such as Point Reyes Original Blue or Rogue Creamery Crater Lake Blue, about 1/4 pound
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 large shallot, finely minced
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 small heads of Little Gem lettuce, or enough for 4
2 small Fuyu persimmons, stemmed and halved through the stem
1/2 small fennel bulb
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped

Wrap the blue cheese in aluminum foil and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, fish sauce, shallot, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste and adjust the balance as needed.

Tear the lettuce into bite-size pieces; leave smaller leaves whole, if desired. Put them in a large bowl. Shave or slice the persimmons crosswise as thinly as possible, preferably with a V-slicer or mandoline. Add to the bowl. Core the fennel bulb and shave or slice crosswise; add to the bowl along with the walnuts.

Add enough dressing to coat the salad evenly and toss well. Taste for seasoning. Divide among 4 salad plates. With the fine holes of a box grater, grate the chilled cheese over the salads to make a snowlike flurry, using as much cheese as you like. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

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Golden Beet, Pomegranate and Feta Salad

This salad is equally tasty with red or pink (Chioggia) beets, of course, but golden beets are the prettiest choice. Their color doesn’t bleed, so the feta stays pristine. Radicchio balances the sweetness, and fresh mint adds zip. From Wine Country Table by Janet Fletcher (Rizzoli).

4 golden beets, greens removed
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
6 sprigs fresh thyme
3 whole allspice berries
1 whole clove
1 clove garlic, halfed

Vinaigrette:

1-1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon finely minced shallot
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher or sea salt
¼ head radicchio, thinly sliced
½ cup chopped toasted walnuts
12 fresh mint leaves, torn into smaller pieces
2 to 3 ounces Greek feta or Valbreso
1/3 cup pomegranate arils

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Put the beets in a baking dish with ¼ inch of water. Add the wine vinegar, thyme, allspice, clove and garlic. Cover and bake until the beets are tender when pierced, about 1 hour depending on size. Peel when cool enough to handle. Let cool completely, then slice thinly with a mandoline or V-slicer or by hand.

Make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and shallot. Whisk in the olive oil. Season with salt and let stand 30 minutes to allow the shallot flavor to mellow.

Toss the beets and radicchio gently with enough of the dressing to coat lightly; you may not need it all. Taste for salt and vinegar and adjust as needed. Add the walnuts and half the mint leaves and toss gently. Transfer to a wide serving platter. Crumble the feta on top, then scatter the pomegranate arils and remaining mint leaves over all. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

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Apple, Fennel and Walnut Salad

Pair with a French cheese board. Valençay, Roquefort and Ossau-Iraty would be a well-balanced trio. Adapted from The Cheese Course by Janet Fletcher (Chronicle Books).

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice or white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 medium shallot, minced fine
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large fennel bulbs
1 small red apple, halved and cored
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice or vinegar, fish sauce, shallot, and salt and pepper to taste. Let stand for 30 minutes to allow the shallot flavor to mellow. Taste and adjust the balance as needed.

Cut off and discard the fennel stalks, if attached. Remove the outer layer of the bulb if it is bruised or thick and fibrous. Halve the bulb and thinly slice crosswise. You can do this by hand with a sharp knife, but a V-slicer or mandoline makes the job easier. Shave or slice the apple crosswise as thinly as possible.

In a large bowl, combine the fennel, apple, walnuts and parsley. Add the dressing—you may not need it all—and toss well. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve immediately with the cheese board.

Serves 6

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Mesclun and Red Pears with Triple-Cream Tartines

Adapted from The Cheese Course by Janet Fletcher (Chronicle Books). Good triple-cream choices include Cowgirl Creamery’s Mt. Tam, Marin French’s Triple Crème Brie, Moser Screamer and Crémeux des Cîteaux.

Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon walnut oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, or more to taste
1 small shallot, finely minced
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 baguette slices, cut on the diagonal
1 large red pear, ripe but firm
1/3 pound mesclun (mixed baby lettuces) and/or arugula
1/4 pound triple-cream cheese

Make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together the oils, vinegar, shallot, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste and adjust the balance as needed.

Preheat a broiler or toaster oven. Toast the bread on both sides.

Halve the pear lengthwise, core, then thinly slice lengthwise. In a large bowl, toss the mesclun and pears gently with just enough dressing to coat evenly. Taste for seasoning. Divide among 4 salad plates. Spread the cheese on the toasts and place 2 toasts on each plate alongside the salad. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

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