The Brewers Salad from McMenamins

The Brewers Salad from McMenamins is one of my all-time favorites and used to be available at several of their pubs and restaurants. It's becoming more and more scarce, so when we drew salad for Restaurant Imitation month I knew exactly what we were going to do. The tangy onions and buttery blue cheese with the crunchy roasted hazelnuts are the best combination.
We used Marie's for dressing, which was delicious, but next time I'm going to make the raspberry vinaigrette and this is the one I wanted to try. 

Brewers Salad
Field Greens
crumbled blue cheese
roasted hazelnuts
pickled red onions (recipe below)
raspberry vinaigrette dressing  

Pickled Red Onions
ingredients: 
1 lb red onion (I used one large onion)
1.5 C white vinegar 
1/2 C white sugar 
1/2 cinnamon stick 
1 bay leaf 
5 cloves
1 star anise
dash of red pepper flakes 

directions: 
1. Blanch red onion in a saucepan of boiling water for 2 minuets. Drain in colander. 
2. While water is heating in step 1, in a seperate saucepan combine the vinegar, sugar and spices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. 
3. Add blanched onions to vinegar. Simmer 1 minute. 
4. Transfer to a glass jar. Allow to stand until cooled. Cover and keep refrigerated.

Link to the original recipe here.