Friday, February 19, 2010

Gorgonzola Apple Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing


For the salad portion of our Valentine's Dinner, I decided to mix some of my favorites that go so well together. I went with a Maple Dijon Dressing, I got the idea from a Maple Walnut Dressing I had at a restaurant. Since Whitney can't eat nuts, I had to substitute something else in. I also coated some pecans in cinnamon and brown sugar, but kept them seperately in a bowl so they wouldn't contaminate the salad on Whit's behalf. They were amazing though, and we all snacked on them throughout the dinner.

Gorgonzola Apple Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing

1 sack of organic mixed baby greens
1 Granny Smith apple, sliced
1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1/4 red onion, sliced
1 cup pecan halves
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. EVOO

Dressing:
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup pure Maple Syrup
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp. minced tarragon
1/4 cup EVOO

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Toss pecans in EVOO in a pie plate.
Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, toss again.
Toast for 10 minutes, or until nuts are crisp and fragrant.
Arrange salad in a bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together dijon, maple syrup, salt, pepper and tarragon.
Whisk in EVOO in a steady stream.
Taste and adjust seasonings.
Drizzle over salad, serve the rest in a side dish.
Top salad with pecans, or serve on the side.

(In this photo, the nuts are in the bottom dish, kind of hiding behind my wine glass!)

3 comments:

Debbie said...

I just love the dressing for this salad. It sounds wonderful. The only apple salad I was aware of was a Waldorf salad! This sounds delicious!

Joanne said...

That dressing sounds amazing! And maple gives the perfect autumny accent to the pecans, gorgonzola and apples. Really fabulous. Better than any salads I've had in restaurants.

NKP said...

Lovely! This is my favourite kind of salad - I love all the flavours. And maple plus mustard? Makes you an honourary Canadian. :)