A Beautiful & Delicious Seasonal Salad
During the holiday season, there is so much rich food and I definitely love to indulge because life’s too short to not enjoy delicious food! There are family traditions, yummy desserts and it’s just a time to celebrate! Having said that, it’s not a bad idea to serve a healthy salad to go along with the other foods and this Fall/Winter Salad with Chicken, Apple & Pecans is one you’ll want to make over and over again! The combination of flavors all dressed with a Maple Dijon Vinaigrette is irresistible!
Next time you grill chicken, add a few extra pieces to the grill to have on hand (or use rotisserie) and fry a few extra slices of bacon…that way, you can put this salad together in a flash! You could leave the bacon out and add extra pecans or even some sautéed pancetta if you like! As always, make this salad your own, but definitely use the maple vinaigrette because it’s so yummy!
I’m having so much fun reinventing my YouTube channel and really focusing on food! I’ll be adding new recipes (and a few other things) each month! If you haven’t subscribed, make sure to hit the subscribe button and if you like the video…please give me a thumbs up! You can watch the video below and keep scrolling for a printable copy of the recipe!
My wooden salad was a birthday present from my daughters and it came from one of my favorite boutiques in Richmond, Virginia called Creme de la Creme! I’m linking a few similar ones below, but if you want the exact one, contact Joe, the owner of Creme de la Creme and I’m sure he would be more than happy to send one your way!
Winter Seasonal Salad with Grilled Chicken & Cranberries
Ingredients
- 4 handfuls of salad greens of your choice - I used mixed salad greens
- 2 grilled chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
- 5 slices cooked bacon, cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup Wensleydale Cheese with Cranberries or cheese of your choice
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries, golden raisins or dried cherries
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
- 1 red apple cut into bite sized pieces
- Maple Vinaigrette:
- 10 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 generous tablespoon good quality maple syrup
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup good quality olive oil
Instructions
- Assemble salad ingredients in a large bowl.
- Make the dressing - in a medium bowl, combine vinegar, dijon mustard, maple syrup, salt pepper. Drizzle in olive oil until emulsified.
- Add a small amount of dressing to salad...just enough to coat the lettuce. Taste and add more dressing, salt and pepper as desired. Enjoy!
I’m just back from New York with my daughters…we had a great time but, I’m a little behind on getting our home decorated for Christmas! I’ll be spending today getting my greenery up and putting the finishing touches on mantles and trees! I can’t wait to share my Christmas House Tour next week…here, and on YouTube! Thanks so much for reading today!