Winter Salad

Salad is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of summer foods. The light, cool, crisp lettuce is the perfect refresher for a hot summer day. As the weather changes, we all crave heavier, warmer comfort food to ward off the fall chill (even in LA!). There are, however, a number of salads that benefit from autumn’s bounty, making them more weather appropriate, while providing a much needed contrast to the season’s rich dishes.

The salad I’m highlighting here has caramelized apples, blue cheese and nuts. The nice thing about this salad is that you have a lot of flexibility. If you don’t like apples, try pears. If you don’t like blue cheese (even though it marries well with the fruit), try goat cheese. If plain nuts are a too much of a bore for you, try candied nuts. I haven’t even started with the lettuce varieties, but I think you get my drift.

I like to serve a salad like this one as a starter (American style) for a stew or braised dish. Since most of those dishes are saucy (and served with starch), a soup starter just seems to be more of the same. Salads on the other hand, provide a nice change in texture and are an easy way to get in some green veggies.

The vinaigrette is from David Lieberman’s cookbook, Young & Hungry. The honey in the dressing is a subtle complement to the apples, cheese and nuts. I like his method of throwing all the ingredients into a Tupperware and shaking to combine, instead of the classic whisking technique. This is how I made whipped cream back in college, in my NYC shoebox sized kitchen. What can I say? It works!

Salad with Caramelized Apple, Gorgonzola & Walnuts with Honey Sherry Vinaigrette
Serves 8

For the dressing:
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large shallot, minced
2 teaspoons honey
¼ cup sherry vinegar
2 teaspoon whole-grain mustard
A few pinches of salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste

For the salad:
½ pound lettuce (I used ½ arugula and ½ mixed greens)
2 apples (I used Fuji)
3 tablespoons butter
1 heaping tablespoon sugar
A wedge of gorgonzola, cut into slices or chunks
1 cup of walnuts (I used a mix of plain & candied walnuts & pecans)

To make the dressing: Mix all the ingredients in a sealable container. Shake and let stand until ready to use.

To make the salad: Wash and dry the lettuce. I highly recommend a salad spinner. There is nothing worse than soggy lettuce, or lettuce that has been crushed by the blotting paper towel.

Quarter the apple, core, and cut each wedge into 3 pieces. I like to leave the skin on, since it adds nutrients. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter. Once the butter has melted, add the apples, cut side down. Let it cook for a few minutes, then sprinkle the sugar over the apples. Once the bottoms brown, swirl the pan, to distribute the light caramel (sugar + butter). Flip the apples over, and let brown on the other side. Once both sides are brown, toss the apples in the caramel, to coat each one in the “sauce”. Remove the apples from the pan and onto a plate to cool.

Toss the lettuce with a few tablespoons of the (just shaken) dressing, adding a little bit more at a time as needed. (You may have quite a bit left over.) Divide between the salad plates. Garnish the plates with the caramelized apples, gorgonzola and nuts. I topped mine with some edible flowers I found at the farmers market. Drizzle a little dressing around the plates for those who like more sauce, and serve. But whatever you do, don’t forget the love!