Savor the fall flavors with this easy Autumn Spinach Apple Salad. This chopped vegetarian salad has tangy blue cheese, sweet cranberries, crunchy apples-celery-pecans, red onions and topped with homemade cornbread croutons.
It is then drizzled with a delicious simple maple Dijon vinaigrette dressing for the ultimate salad.
Autumn Spinach Apple Salad
I'm super excited today to share this new salad creation with you today. It just has so many flavors going on and everything works well together to make it a new fall salad favorite in this neck of the woods.
This idea all started with me wanting to try make homemade cornbread croutons. This summer a couple friends and I went to Redstone Restaurant in the twin cities and enjoyed lunch on their patio and shared a chopped salad. Instead of regular bread croutons, it had ones made out of cornbread and they were delicious!
I thought, heck I can do that and I did by starting with pre-made bread that I got at the grocery store, cut them into 1" cubes, tossed with some olive oil and baked until golden brown in the oven.
While these are perfect for salad, I'm thinking they would also be great on soups like this Creamy Tomato or chili.
This tasty fall salad is perfect to serve for family and friends; everyone will be singing your praises.
Here's a snapshot of the ingredients you will need:
What ingredients are needed for a chopped spinach and apple salad?
- spinach
- apples
- red onions
- dried cranberries
- pecans
- blue cheese
- cornbread croutons
- celery
- dijon mustard
- vegetable oil
- white vinegar
- maple syrup (pure is best)
- thyme
- salt
- pepper
I just love creating salads and this one was so fun to make with all the textures, colors and flavors.
Instead of showing you each step-by-step of building the salad (since I think you get the idea), the final result is this:
How do you make a Maple Mustard Vinaigrette dressing?
It is so simple to make this vinaigrette dressing since it can all be made in a food processor.
Add all the ingredients except the oil, you will drizzle that in last so that it emulsifies.
Here is the end result.
I truly love salads with lots of stuff in them and if you search for salads, you will see soooo many that you might have a hard time deciding what to make. The most requested recipe that I'm asked to make is this Apple Almond Poppy Seed salad. It is chocked full of everything including a bit of pasta in addition to the greens.
Are you curious about that? Go check it out!
Getting back today's salad, it's full of good stuff too.
Just to sure you can see all that is happening, here is a really close shot. Just imagine yourself digging into salad soon - and I mean soon like now, today, tomorrow!
Currently this salad is vegetarian but if you would like to make it more of a meal, add some chopped or shredded chicken.
I'm also all about adding your favorite ingredients. Choose your own nuts, cheese and greens. Just be sure to try those cornbread croutons! Yum!
Try this recipe later by saving this pin!
Get the Recipe
Autumn Spinach Apple Salad
Fall is the perfect time to create this delicious salad with crunchy apples and a maple vinaigrette
Ingredients
Cornbread croutons
- 1 cup cornbread cubes
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
Salad
- 6 cups chopped spinach
- 1 medium apple, cubed
- ⅓ cup red onions, sliced
- 1 cup celery, sliced
- ½ cup blue cheese, crumbled
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup candied pecans
Maple Vinaigrette
- 1 ½ tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ cup white wine vinegard
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Prepare croutons by tossing with olive oil, placing on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and baking in a 350° oven for about 15 minutes flipping over halfway through.
- Remove and let cool
- Divide salad ingredients onto 4 plates
- To make dressing combine all ingredients in a food process (except oil) and blend. Slowly drizzle in olive oil until well emulsified.
- Drizzle dressing over salad and serve (note you will have extra dressing)
- Top with croutons
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 720Total Fat: 44gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 33gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 929mgCarbohydrates: 71gFiber: 10gSugar: 30gProtein: 17g
Nutritional information provided is computer-generated and only an estimate. You may want to do your own research with the ingredients listed if you have concerns about health or specific diets.
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