Apple Salad with Candied Pecans
Updated
Updated
This simple Apple Salad includes candied pecans, blue cheese, and a pomegranate vinaigrette. Fantastic light lunch or side salad served with dinner!
For all of you eye-rollers who grew tired of me writing about my perfect non-fussy, advanced-eating, miniature-foodie daughter, here is your ultimate revenge. Me bitching about her vegetable-hating, picky-eating, candy-obsessed little brother. Payback is sweet, no?
Today’s installment: salad.
Why is lettuce so hard for kids to grasp? I mean, if I told him he could pick a leaf off a tree and eat it, he’d be like, “Really? Cool!” But a plate of leaves from the market is so much less appealing.
So, we say things to him like, “See how your older sister is eating hers?” and “If you want to be big and smart like Daddy…” Oh, and my favorite, which of course is a total lie, “I bet all your friends would enjoy this.” See, peer pressure starts at home! Lol.
Alas, my quest continues. I make salads which have elements on the kid-friendly side and can easily be separated – fruit, sugar coated nuts, cheese.
I’ve already served this Roquefort Pear Salad a few times, which went over pretty well. But since I’m still getting through all those apples, I went searching.
This Apple Salad comes with a Bobby Flay name tag and glowing reviews, so I knew it was a sure thing. I still tweaked it, but kept the main concept together. It was wonderful.
If you’re looking for a Thanksgiving side salad, you can’t go wrong with this Apple Salad.
Maybe Trevor’s serving will be covered in chocolate sauce.
Other Apple Recipes we love!
Apple Salad with Candied Pecans
Ingredients
For the Pomegranate Vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons pomegranate juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey, , or more to taste
- 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, , to taste
For the Salad
- 4 medium apples, , cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 10 cups mixed baby greens
- 1 1/2 cups candied pecans, (broken into pieces if they're large)
- 1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, , to taste
Instructions
- For the vinaigrette dressing: put pomegranate juice, vinegar, mustard, honey, olive oil, and a little salt and pepper in a jar with a tightly fitted lid. Shake vigorously for a minute or so to incorporate, until emulsified.
- Combine the apples, baby greens, candied pecans, and blue cheese in a large bowl.
- Drizzle with a little of the vinaigrette; toss to coat until everything is coated. Add more dressing, as needed or pass it at the table.
- Divide salad on individual plates; season with salt and pepper to taste and serve!
Notes
- Granny Smith, Gala, Fuji, or Honeycrisp apples (or a combination of any) are great for this salad. Use your favorite!
- The vinaigrette dressing can be made 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!slightly adapted from Bobbly Flay
This was great ! I’ve made this for over a year now and even gotten my sister hooked on it.
It never fails…your posts always bring a smile to my face. I can just see the convincing going on around your dinner table. He’ll come around someday, Amy. :)
By the way, this salad is mouthwatering! I love the sweet/salty/savory combo!
Yummy! At the end of the day, I’ll just have to find somebody to cook such tasteful meals…
Excellent flavor combination girl. This looks amazing.
This salad sounds great. I love walnuts, fruit and blue cheese together on a salad. I have to try this vinaigrette – it sounds tangy and sweet which I love.
My theory is kids come into this world and already have a whole set of likes and dislike, long before they even belt their first scream. GREG
This will be a keeper. It is similar to a salad I love, so I know it will be delicious.
If it makes you feel any better, I was totally that veggie hating kid…and look at me now! THERE IS HOPE!!
And chocolate sauce. There is that too.
I’ll take mine sans chocolate sauce. Oh and I’ll take Trevor’s serving too, thankyouverymuch.
I’ll take mine, covered in chocolate sauce, also!!!
Omit the blue cheese and I am all over this!
I feel you, Amy. My guy won’t even touch pasta if it has a fleck of green on it. All of his favorite foods are beige. And his favorite phrase when he sees something new is “I don’t like it.” Even a delicious salad like this one.
FREAKING.
YUM.
IN.
MY.
FACE.
Bev, LOL. You crack me up!
This salad looks scrumptious! And even though I was never a picky eater as a child, I STILL wasn’t a huge fan of salad. I don’t know what it is about the leafy greens–it just never seems to click with the kiddos. Thankfully we all grow up one day and (hopefully) realize the folly of our ways . . . =)