Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Salad with Apples and Maple-Cider Vinaigrette

I made this salad to go alongside a soup I made when my mom was here visiting. My favorite part about this salad was the pecans. After I made the pecans, and I had to literally hide them because we kept snacking on them. Aubrey and I were brainstorming about the different kinds of seasonings we could put on the pecans. Cinnamon and sugar would be yummy.
Both my mom and Aubrey enjoyed this salad. I was surprised that Aubrey liked it because he doesn't really like fruit in his salads, but he enjoyed every bite (or at least he said he did).
My only regret is that I forgot to throw in the goat cheese.
This is a great salad to make ahead of time when hosting a dinner party.


Ingredients:

Sugared Curried Pecans
1 (6-ounce) package pecan halves
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

Maple-Cider Vinaigrette
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2/3 cup olive oil

Salad
1 (10-ounce) package baby spinach leaves, washed OR 1 head green leaf lettuce, chopped
1 Gala or Fiji apple, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 (4-ounce) package crumbled goat cheese


Directions:

Prepare Pecans
Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Toss pecans in butter. Stir together sugar and next 4 ingredients in a bowl; add pecans, tossing to coat. Spread in a single layer in a nonstick aluminum foil-lined pan. Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until lightly browned and toasted. Cool in a pan on a wire rack 20 minutes; separate pecans with a fork.

Prepare Vinaigrette
Whisk together cider vinegar and next 4 ingredients. Gradually whisk in oil until well blended.

Prepare Salad
Combine spinach and next 3 ingredients in a bowl. Drizzle with desired amount of Maple-Cider Vinaigrette; toss to coat. Sprinkle with pecans. Serve salad with any remaining vinaigrette.

*Note: Pecans may be made up to 1 week ahead (only if you can keep your hands out of them). Store in an airtight container. Vinaigrette may be made up to 3 days ahead. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Source: Southern Living

1 comment:

Meg said...

This had a fresh taste, and the dressing was delicious. I liked the combination of fruit and nuts and really enjoyed the salad. Illu mucho!