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”
I love meals like this that are quick, easy, and DELICIOUS! I love having something cheesy in my salads and the pecans are great too! Glad that this recipe was a winner for you!
Very nice salad. it may be wintery but it bring a lot of sun to a old day. Great combo of ingredients…especially the blue cheese
I just used up my dried cherries, otherwise I would have made this tonight. Pears would be an amazing substitute in this delicious winter recipe, except that I would definitely poach the pears as they are hard as rock and tasteless this time of year. I can see why this one came out on top at the party, so pretty and pretty damn delicious sounding too.
this is great – I’ve been eating something very similar to this all week, only I’ll throw in some strawberries and bluerries instead of the dried cherries, it’s really been hitting the spot!!!!
I love a big winter salad chock full of flavor, and yours looks perfect Lizzy!
The salad looks and sounds delicious:) Love the Maple Syrup:)
The salad sounds wonderful and I could eat it no matter the season.
This is my kinda salad! All my favorite ingredients in one 🙂 And I just happen to have all the ingredients in my fridge!!
Serves 8… or one me! My favorite type of salad!
Lovely salad! Lots of crunch but I would omit the blue cheese 🙂
So many good things together, the crunchy apples and creamy blue cheese together with the pecans and cherries…yum!
looks absolutely perfect.
That salad looks wonderful. The dressing ingredients are interesting and sound fresh and light! Must try this!
This looks like a wonderful fresh, healthy salad. I am sure it would meet with approval here too.
If you put blue cheese in a salad, I will come to you. Love the mixture of flavors. It brightens my exceedingly frigid day.
Great looking salad. There’s a cold snap at the moment in Arizona (where apparently St. Louis gets lots of greens at this time of the year) so green stuff has been expensive. No problem with this salad – although it requires some greens, most of the flavor comes from all sorts of good things. Really nice combo of flavors – thanks.
That is my food, love salad in the winter, love salads in the summer, and any time all year round. Great, Lizzy! 🙂
What a nice and healthy salad! I like the crunchy apples in it. But I would have to minus the blue cheese from mine, I can’t get around to liking that cheese !
Thats a cook looking salad. You have a lovely blog out here with great recipes:)
What a coincidence! I was just blogging about my vegetable salad:) Winter salad looks so refreshing with all the nuts and cheese, great flavors.