I may be a weird person, but I always think of dinner salads as a summer thing. That said, these are two delicious autumn salads, which with chicken included make a great dinner at any time of year, and without chicken, are a perfect appetizer for your Thanksgiving table! They both contain nuts, but if you’re serving anyone with nut allergies, they can easily be omitted . Of the many things I am thankful for, one is that I can eat nuts, because they’re delicious! But that said, I try to be considerate of those who can’t or won’t.
This apple, walnut, and craisin salad is a classic and couldn’t be any easier, except for cutting up the apples and giving the dressing a quick whisk at the last minute!
Apple, Walnut and Craisin Salad – serves 4 for dinner or 8 as an appetizer
1 bag spring mix lettuce
2 apples
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup craisins
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
Dash lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Ground pepper
Optional: 2 cups cooked chicken, cubed, and/or 1 cup crumbled goat cheese
Combine balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and whisk well (I usually use the “boat motor” hand mixer for this). Set aside but keep your whisk or mixer handy. I often make the dressing the day before and just give it another whiz with the mixer before serving.
Core and dice apple into 1/4″ cubes. Combine apple, lettuce, walnuts, craisins (and goat cheese, if you’re using it) in large bowl and mix well. Check your dressing and re-mix and add salt and/or pepper if necessary. Pour over salad (you may not need it all – I usually start with about half, mix, see how it looks and end up putting most of the rest in, but it’s up to you – you know how much dressing you like). Toss well to combine and serve.
Squash, Pine Nut, and Parmesan Salad
This is based on a salad we used to order for office catering, except that salad contained pumpkin (I have never been able to find a mid-size pumpkin to use for this – all I ever see are either the tiny ones or big huge jack o’lantern pumpkins, and I don’t need that much pumpkin ever) and kale (which my husband refuses to eat). It was such a great salad that I’ve wanted to try to make it for about three years, and I finally came up with some alternatives to the impossible ingredients!
Question: do men just not like kale? My husband will eat any kind of green out there from collard greens to broccoli rabe, but he claims to hate kale. I thought that was just a reaction to healthy eating, and especially possibly trendy healthy eating, but I ordered it in the office and two men I worked with, both of whom ate lots of salads, and one of whom I knew for a fact went to all kinds of trendy restaurants, were like, “is that kale? UGH”. Bizarre, but don’t worry – this contains no kale, although you can certainly substitute it for the arugula if you want.
Anyway, this is a really nice autumn salad. The squash should be roasted in advance and you can make the dressing and take care of the cheese in advance, so it’s great for those nights you don’t have a lot of time to make dinner!
Squash, Pine Nut, and Parmesan Salad (pictured) – serves 4 for dinner or 8 as an appetizer
1 bag baby arugula
1-2 squash, depending on size (I have used acorn squash and something called honeynut squash and they both worked well. I think I like the honeynut squash a little better, but it’s smaller, so you’ll need two)
1/4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Dash salt
Ground pepper
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese (see below)
Pre-heat oven to 450. Halve squash. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 25 minutes. Let cool and remove skin. Cut into 1/2″ cubes.
Combine olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper and whisk well using a mixer or hand whisk.
Using a vegetable peeler, shave curls off a block of Parmesan cheese (they sell blocks of Parmesan at the supermarket cheese counter – if you can’t find one, see if they have shredded Parmesan (not grated). If the pieces are too long, cut them in half.
Combine arugula, squash, pine nuts, and Parmesan. Add dressing (re-whisk if necessary) and toss well to coat. Serve immediately.
What’s your favorite fall salad? And do you eat dinner salads year-round or do you consider them just a summer thing? If you haven’t tried a fall salad, there’s no time like the present!
