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 lettuces are months and months away!
Loaded Winter Salad
This is the second Pioneer Woman recipe I have made. Another winner! I brought this Winter Salad 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. I’d also love to test out some of these fabulous autumn salads.
The Perfect Combination of Flavors and Textures
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 goodies 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. The perfect combination of sweet, salty, crunchy and chewy ingredients. This winter salad is magnificent any month of the year! I promise.
More Salads You’ll Love:
- Fall Salad with Maple Candied Pecans Bacon, Apples and Shaved Brussels Sprouts from Bless This Mess
- Apple Cherry and Walnut Salad from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Fall Panzanella Salad from Nutmeg Nanny
- Holiday Lettuce Salad from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Shaved Winter Vegetable Salad from The View From Great Island
- More Salad Recipes
You may need these supplies to make this winter salad recipe:
- Salad Bowl
- Mason Jars
- Pillivuyt 2-1/4-Quart Porcelain Serving Bowl
- Pillivuyt 3-quart Serving Bowl (lovely French ceramic bowls)
- 11-Inch Salad Tongs
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 salad bowl or platter.
- In a small mason jar, combine dressing ingredients and shake to mix and emulsify. Just before serving pour dressing over salad and lightly toss.
Notes
Recipe slightly adapted from Pioneer Woman
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”
Loved having this for lunch today! Every bite was tasty!
This salad is amazing. Beautiful, delicious, and healthy!
I absolutely LOVED this salad!!
What a perfect fall salad- it’s the best!
This was a great salad that I will be making more of. Especially for the upcoming holiday entertaining coming up. Thanks for sharing.
This is my go-to holiday salad recipe. Thank you!
I love this salad! Fall, Winter and Spring!
Love the addition of dried cherries in this salad.
My husband and I LOVE this salad so much we have it at least once a week. I’ve used the baby greens and spinach, but most recently I was out of those things, so I used the Sweet Kale chopped salad mixture from Costco which includes green cabbage, shredded broccoli, thinly sliced Brussels sprouts and radicchio. Amazing! I absolutely love the maple and Dijon dressing. It pairs so nicely with this nuts, fruit and blue cheese.
I love, love this salad dressing, too! I’m going to have to try it with that kale chopped salad mixture—-sounds like a terrific pairing! Thanks, Donna!
I forgot to mention that we use Fuji apples or red pears instead of the Granny Smith apples. We’re eating it right now.
We make a similar version of this salad when strawberries are in season. I’ve seen it done with pears too. It’s a family favorite here too. Everyone loves the nuts and cheese on top!
Lizzy, this is so my kind of salad. I’ll mirror your adaptation by upping the acid, but oh, the textures and flavors of this aptly named dish makes me swoon. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Have you tried her vanilla bean scones recipe yet? They are some of THE best scones I have ever eaten!
Will be making this for company this weekend – a friend and I were drooling over some great blue cheese at a wine tasting last night. will be sending her this recipe. Thanks
OMG Lizzie this winter salad looks gorgeous. My hubby doesn’t like blue cheese but I won’t tell him, make and have it all mid week for me. 🙂
Just beautiful!!
Certainly love the name ‘Winter Salad’! Wish I can also enjoy salad accompanied by snow……… I’ve always enjoyed having cheese in my salad 🙂
This salad look yummy. I love the combination of ingredients.
Lizzy, it does look delicious! A very flavorful combination of ingredients 🙂
What a gorgeous salad! I love the addition of dried cherries, but all the flavors are great and I’m sure they’d be wonderful together.
This would be mine all mine. My picky eaters wouldn’t enjoy the nuts, more for me yay!!!