Apples 'n Greens

Crisp, fall apples. A light apple dressing with a touch of cinnamon. Pecans. Cheddar cheese. This is the perfect fall salad to me. It's healthy and tasty, and it is another excuse to buy and eat apples. The dressing is very light and simple and so easy to make. Plus, you can make it ahead of time, which is great if you are bringing it somewhere or plan on having dinner guests.

The dressing includes apple juice, lemon juice, cider vinegar, vegetable oil, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, pepper, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. It's a lot of ingredients, but it whisks together quickly and most things I tend to have on hand already. I'm not much of a juice drinker, so I buy juice boxes of 100% apple juice for recipes like this one that uses only 1/2 a cup or less. That way I always have some in my cupboard and I don't waste a huge container of juice just for a little bit in a recipe.

Next, wash some romaine and red-tipped leaf lettuce and tear it into bite size pieces. The only chopping in this salad is the apples. Slice up a medium Granny Smith and a medium of your favorite red apple. (Unless your favorite red apple is a Red Delicious. In that case, go try some different red apples and discover how much better anything is compared to Red Delicious.)

If you are making the salad ahead of time, pour the dressing over the apples in the bottom of a large bowl, and then place the lettuce on top and refrigerate for several hours. The dressing will keep the apples from turning brown. When it is time to serve, mix the apples, dressing and lettuce with cheddar cheese and chopped pecans. Serve.

Apples 'n Greens

Dressing
1/2 cup apple juice
2 T lemon juice
2 T cider vinegar
2 T vegetable oil
1 1/2 T brown sugar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
dash ground nutmeg

Salad
1 medium Granny Smith Apple
1 medium red apple
4 cups torn red-tipped leaf lettuce
4 cups torn romaine lettuce
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (or more to taste)
1/2 cup chopped pecans


In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except apples, lettuce, cheese and pecans; whisk to blend. Core and cut apples into bite size pieces. Toss apples in dressing. Combine greens and gently layer over apples. Refrigerate, covered, several hours.

To serve: Toss lightly with cheese and pecans.

Recipe Source: adapted from The Best of Byerly's: A Recipe Collection

Posted in: Side Dish