Winter Salad with Apples, Pecans, Blue Cheese and Dried Cherries
This Winter Salad with Apples, Pecans, Blue Cheese, and Dried Cherries will make you forget that the availability of garden tomatoes and lettuce is months and months away!
Why You Must Make
- I brought this Winter Salad from the Pioneer Woman to a New Year’s Day party, and both the men and women gave it high marks.
- I found the salad dressing to be most unusual with only one teaspoon of cider vinegar for the 1/4 cup of olive oil, much less acid than I’d usually use. I did up that measurement a bit, but the rest is pure Ree.
- There’s a lot of Dijon mustard plus some maple syrup in the dressing as well. And it works deliciously with this salad!
Ingredient Notes
- Kitchen Staples – Olive Oil, Salt, Black Pepper
- Spring Mix Greens or Baby Spinach – Both work well, so pick what you prefer.
- Granny Smith Apples – Core and slice very thin. I used my mandoline.
- Pecan Halves – Toast in the oven or in a skillet
- Dried Cherries – I love the tart-dried cherries at Trader Joe’s. You can use dried cranberries AKA Craisins instead.
- Maytag Blue Cheese – Cut into small cubes or crumble. Use any favorite blue cheese variety.
- Dijon Mustard – I always have Grey Poupon on hand.
- Maple Syrup – Use real maple syrup, never artificially flavored syrups like Log Cabin.
- Apple Cider Vinegar – To taste in order to balance the sweetness from the maple syrup.
When to Serve
I renamed this bowl of dressed greens and goodies “Winter Salad” as it is perfect for the cold months when garden tomatoes and other homegrown vegetables are impossible to find. I don’t think you’ll miss your summer salad at all when you taste this lovely concoction of greens, thinly sliced Granny apples, toasted pecans, and small cubes of Maytag blue cheese. Plus, the sweet and tangy salad dressing is delicious!
It provides the perfect combination of sweet, salty, crunchy, and chewy ingredients. This winter salad is magnificent any month of the year! I promise.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s made without ingredients you’d find in many summer salads like garden tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh berries, peaches, garden radishes, sweet corn, etc. It has apples, nuts and dried fruit which are more popular in fall and winter salads. Plus, the dressing is made with apple cider vinegar and maple syrup.
Try sliced pears instead of apples. Roasting butternut squash, carrots, fennel, and beets all turn softer and sweeter when cooked. They’re delicious additions to salad.
You May Also Like
- Fall Salad with Maple Candied Pecans Bacon, Apples, and Shaved Brussels Sprouts from Bless This Mess
- Shaved Winter Vegetable Salad from The View from Great Island
- Apple Cherry and Walnut Salad
- Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Pomegranate, and Feta
- Holiday Lettuce Salad
- More Salad Recipes
Winter Salad with Apples, Pecans, Blue Cheese and Dried Cherries
A loaded green salad perfect for fall and winter months!
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Spring Mix greens or baby spinach
- 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and sliced thinly (I used my mandolin)
- 1/2 cups pecan halves, toasted
- 1/4 cup dried cherries
- 6 ounces Maytag blue cheese, cut into small cubes (may use any blue cheese of your choice)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon real Maple syrup
- 2-3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (to taste)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Arrange apples, pecans, cherries, and blue cheese over greens in a salad bowl or on a platter.
- In a small mason jar, combine dressing ingredients and shake to mix and emulsify.
- Just before serving pour dressing over the salad and lightly toss.
Notes
The recipe is slightly adapted from Pioneer Woman.
May use pears instead of apples, any favorite nuts, and dried cranberries instead of cherries.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 234Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 384mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 3gSugar: 8gProtein: 6g
67 Comments on “Winter Salad with Apples, Pecans, Blue Cheese and Dried Cherries”
Great mixture of textures and flavours – love it!
I love a good salad! Salads are actually harder than people think, it’s tough to get a really great balance of flavors and this one looks perfect 🙂
I used to eat a very similar salad at my favorite restaurant in Paris. The only difference was no dried cherries and pecans and the dressing was a walnut vinegar. Thanks for sharing this I can’t wait to give it a try…very soon.
We are hosting an event to cook Ree Drummond this coming Sep. Like you said about this salad, all Ree’s recipes seem wonderful and I can’t wait to try cooking and baking her recipes soon.
Oh I love the look of this salad. It is so hot in Australia I have been eating salad every day, I will have to try this one… maybe with a little less oil though 🙂
I think it´s a year round salad, I´d be happy to have it right now!
Lizzy,
I have not been getting any of your posts! WHY????
My friend Liz.
Gorgeous salad. She has everything that is tasty and looks very pretty.
I love blue cheese and cherries so for me is great. I also enjoyed the delicious sauce. I eat the entire platter and still ask for more.
By the way I loved the French Apple Tart
Kisses xo
Liz, this salad looks so good, packed with goodness and yumminess, and so refreshing too. Love everything in this salad, I can have at least one platefull right now 😀 Thanks for feeding my eyes 🙂
Hi Liz! For some reason I didn’t get the feeds from your blog and I missed all the beautiful things you made this month! Anyway it is better late than never as they say. I came just in time for this delicious salad. My son and husband would love the addition of blue cheese!
Some of my favorite salad ingredients for sure! I agree the dressing proportions are odd but otherwise it looks great!
This is one of my favorite salads – great blend of flavors!
Liz, sounds great and the cherries are a wonderful idea. I’ve got a stash of dried Bing Cherries from my US trip and so this is a real treat!
I’ll drop by later and bring some bacon or grilled chicken to go with that delicious salad 😀
Perfect renaming of that salad. It’s totally for winter months, though it would be fantastic in summer with some sliced strawberries added, wouldn’t it. I’m fascinated by the original dressing proportions. Just a teaspoon of vinegar? I suppose Rhee used the Dijon as the acid in place? I’d probably up the amount as well. That’s a heck of a lot of oil otherwise. It looks delicious.
I love salad in any season,great combination ingredients plus the crunchiness from pecans and the real maple syrup on the dressing,is one my favorite 🙂
What a cool looking salad… my hubby would go for this for sure because he’s a blue cheese fan. 🙂
Really beautiful.
Mmm, love the mixture of green veggies and apples. The Dijon mustard to balance and bring the salad together is a great choice, too =)
Meat… It needs meat…. D:
That salad would go great with some grilled chicken or something.