Apple Cranberry Walnut Butter Leaf Salad
This tasty, fresh salad starts with a bed of delicious butter lettuce. Add the crunch of two kinds of apples and toasted walnuts, the richness of crumbled feta cheese, and the chewy tanginess of dried cranberries and you’ve got a quick (and impressive) side for any dinner. Sure, you could throw in the walnuts without toasting them, but give yourself a little extra oomph by taking the step. Toasting gives them an even crunchier texture and a nuttier flavor. A perfect contrast to the bright tartness of the apple cider vinegar and honey dressing.
- Total TIME:
- 5 minutes
- SERVINGS:
- 6 to 8
Ingredients
- 1 Taylor Farms Sweet Butter Blend Salad
- 1 red apple, sliced thin
- 1 green apple, sliced thin
- 1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- 4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Directions
- To toast walnuts, preheat the oven to 350º. Place walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, watching carefully. Don’t burn them! Once cooled, chop the walnuts for your topping.
- Core and slice the apples.
- Toss sweet butter lettuce, apples, walnuts, feta, and cranberries in a large bowl.
- Whisk together the apple cider vinegar, honey, and olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Add dressing to the salad mix and toss gently.
- Serve immediately.
Building Your Own Restaurant-Worthy Salads at Home
Why does it seem like restaurant salads always have a leg up on the ones you make at home? Well, we’re here to help with that. You can build a restaurant-worthy salad right in your kitchen with a little forethought. Chef’s hat optional.
- Base – First, you need a fresh, tasty base. Usually lettuce, and in this case our delicious blend of butter lettuce. But you can branch out! We have a wide variety of bagged lettuce blends that make this step super easy, no washing or chopping necessary. Starting with romaine will make your salad crunchier, and starting with our Spring Mix or Butter lettuce offers a more tender base. Find your favorite and start there.
- Texture – In this salad, we’ve included crispy apples, crunchy walnuts, and chewy cranberries to give variety to each bite. There are so many options to get this same variety, try to have two or three contrasting textures to keep it interesting. Think juicy fresh fruit, crisp veggies, and softer cheeses, topped with crunchy croutons or pita strips.
- Taste – Each ingredient in the apple cranberry walnut butter leaf salad adds its own flavor profile—like the tartness of the green apples and cranberries, the sweetness of the red apple, and the richness of the feta. As with the texture, you want to mix sweet & savory and tart & rich to make a salad truly restaurant-worthy.
- Dressing – Most salad dressings are simply an acidic ingredient and oil, and in this case, a bit of sugar (honey). This is usually a choice type of vinegar or lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil, but can be made from a variety of acids and oils, including mayonnaise. The point of the dressing is to really bring out the flavor and texture of the salad, not bury them!
Once you’ve got those four key pieces, you can try endless combinations to find your new favorite salad. We’re sure you’ll love this one, but there are so many options out there, you should try as many as you can!
