Fall Harvest Salad

FALL HARVEST SALAD WITH APPLE CIDER VINAIGRETTE DRESSING IS MY FAVORITE FALL SALAD, AND YOU’VE GOTTA TRY IT!

It may sound crazy, but up until a few years ago, I hadn’t yet experienced the whole concept of apples on a salad. I had had berries on a salad (and loved it!) but not apples.

And then….. I tried a salad from a restaurant that they called their “Fall Salad” with apples and walnuts. It was topped with balsamic vinaigrette and was absolutely delicious. I decided I need to make a Fall Harvest Salad at home… and that’s how this salad came to be.

Years later, this Fall Harvest Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette dressing is still my favorite fall lunch idea (until Thanksgiving approaches, and then this Thanksgiving Salad is the new favorite)! Let’s head to the kitchen and make it.

❤️ Ashley

Fall Harvest Salad Ingredients:

Gather your ingredients. You will need:

• Bed of greens – I use a combination of romaine and spinach
• Honey Crisp Apples – thinly sliced – or any other apple you have on hand
• Walnuts
• Dried Cranberries
• Shallot – thinly sliced. Purple onion is another option.
• Blue Cheese Crumbles – feta cheese is also delicious

Make the apple cider vinaigrette dressing:

My Apple Cider Vinaigrette Dressing recipe is so perfect for this Fall Harvest Salad. It has the perfect fall flavor that compliments all of the ingredients in the salad so perfectly.

Assemble The Fall Harvest Salad

The key to the perfect fall salad is a balance of flavors, and textures along with using fresh ingredients. This salad has it all!

Balanced Flavors

• Sweet – honey crisp apples, dried cranberries
• Savory – walnuts
• Tangy – apple cider vinaigrette dressing
• Salty – walnuts and blue cheese dressing
• Bitter – shallot and blue cheese dressing

Variety of Texture

• Crunchy: walnuts
• Creamy: blue cheese crumbles
• Tender: leafy greens

The variety of flavors and texture, along with the beautiful combination of colors makes this the stand-out salad of the season! This salad is both so delicious and satisfying.

Using a Salad Spinner

Any time I am making a lettuce salad, I like to use my salad spinner after I’ve washed my greens to prevent a soggy salad..

What does a salad spinner do?

• Removes excess water – as the salad spinner spins at a high speed, excess water drains from the leaves.
• Dressing clings better – a salad dressing will adhere to greens better when there isn’t excess moisture.
• Prevents greens from wilting – greens that have excess moisture will wilt faster than greens that have been dried well.

If you have a salad spinner available, I highly recommend using one any time you are prepping greens for a salad.