Holiday Honeycrisp Salad consists of crisp toasted pecans, chewy dried cranberries, zesty blue cheese, and a tangy-sweet apple cider vinaigrette. It is full of flavor and texture. It's ideal for a dinner party, a midweek dinner, a Christmas salad, a Thanksgiving salad, etc.
Friends, the holiday countdown has begun now that fall has officially begun! That means I'm thinking about Thanksgiving right now. You all, and this salad? This year, you must include it in your Thanksgiving menu! However, you should just go ahead and prepare it as a Christmas salad next month in addition to making a delicious Thanksgiving salad this month.
Let's face it, Christmas meals tend to be a little excessive in terms of their use of fatty, delicious foods. However, it can be challenging to consume all of that extravagance in one sitting, at least without running the danger of getting an upset stomach. Therefore, it could be excellent to offer a lighter menu option in between the buttery mashed potatoes and the 17 different kinds of pies.
This holiday honeycrisp salad fills that need. Seriously, let's all pause for a moment to acknowledge how stunning, colorful, and ideal this salad is.
The flavors—sweet, salty, and tangy—along with the colors and contrasting textures. This recipe is complete.
And as I previously mentioned, this dish would also make a magnificent Christmas salad in addition to being the ideal Thanksgiving salad. I mean, hi there? Red, green, and white color scheme already prepared!
Green salads with fruity, nutty, and cheesy flavors have always been my favorite, but in the past, these salads have often focused on berries. In spite of this, I nearly always order an apple or pear salad when I visit a restaurant because YUM. If I'm going to spend a lot of money on a plate of greens and apples at a restaurant, why not make it myself at home for much less money?
In my humble opinion, Honeycrisp apples are the most magnificent and delicious apple to have ever graced the earth, thus I used them in this salad. Yes, they have a sweet flavor, a pleasing hue, and a crisp texture that I kind of like. I also like that they don't brown as rapidly after being chopped compared to certain other varieties.
However, I am aware that Honeycrisps have a constrained growth season in addition to the possibility of being pricey. Therefore, if these apples aren't accessible, feel free to substitute your preferred backups. Gala or Pink Lady would be wonderful. Or Granny Smith if you like your salad to have a bit pucker. Or you may even combine other apple varieties in the salad!
Ingredients
- ½ cup light vegetable oil, such as sunflower or safflower OR extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup unsweetened apple juice OR apple cider
- 2 to 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 medium Honeycrisp apples (about 1 pound), thinly sliced
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 12 ounces salad greens, spring mix, baby spinach, arugula, baby romaine, OR a combo of your favorites
- 1 cup pecan halves, toasted or candied
- ¾ cup dried cranberries OR dried cherries
- 4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
Instructions
- Measure oil, apple cider vinegar, apple juice or cider, honey, lemon juice, salt, and pepper into a mason jar to make apple cider vinaigrette. Screw the lid on firmly and shake ferociously until everything is well-combined. Alternative methods include blending the ingredients in a blender or small food processor, or quickly whisking them all together in a larger bowl.
- Squeeze the fresh lemon juice from the lemon half over the apple slices in a big plastic baggie. Shake to coat after sealing the bag. Salad greens, apple slices, pecans, dried cranberries, and blue cheese should be arranged in a big salad dish. Just before serving, toss the salad components with the desired amount of Apple Cider Vinaigrette until they are coated.
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