Harvest Apple Salad
Ingredients
Apple Cider Vinaigrette:
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- ¼ teaspoon coarse, kosher salt (use half for table salt)
- Pinch black pepper
Salad:
- 6 cups baby spring greens, baby arugula, baby kale or a combination
- 1 cup chopped honeycrisp or cosmic crisp apples (about 1 medium apple)
- ¾ cup sweet spicy candied pecans (see note for the recipe I use and store bought options)
- ½ cup dried cranberries (i.e. craisins)
- ½ cup lightly salted, roasted pumpkin seeds (see note)
- ½ cup cooked and crumbled bacon (about 6 strips)
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese (see note)
- ¼ cup thinly sliced red onions
Instructions
- For the vinaigrette, combine all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve. The vinaigrette can be made several days ahead of time.
- For the salad, combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss lightly.
- Give the dressing a stir to recombine, if needed. Serve the dressing on the side or toss the salad with the dressing and serve.
Notes
Candied Pecans: my favorite, easy recipe for homemade candied pecans is this one. When making them for this salad, I usually halve the recipe, use chopped pecans instead of whole, reduce the cinnamon to 3/4 teaspoon, and add 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (add more, to taste). For store bought, look in the snacks/nuts aisle of the grocery store. (Trader Joe's has sweet and spicy whole candied pecans that can easily be chopped for this salad.) If you can't find/don't have time for candied pecans, toasted pecans or another type of favorite nut can work.
Pumpkin Seeds: I've seen these in multiple grocery stores in the snacks/nuts aisle. If you can't find them, shelled, lightly salted sunflower seeds are a good substitution.
Feta Cheese: if you are looking to take this salad (and feta) up a notch, buy a block of feta cheese (pretty widely available; usually by the specialty cheeses) and crumble it yourself - it is so much creamier than already crumbled feta.
Apple: the chopped apples can be tossed in 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice to keep from turning brown, if desired.