While living in Texas we invited our friends over for dinner. I was making my chicken pot pie and we asked them to bring a side or salad. When they showed up for dinner, they had brought quite a large salad. We tossed the salad together and had it on the side with the pot pie. It was delicious. And it became the basis for this apple walnut spring mix salad.

About halfway through the meal, we learned that one of our friends had never had a pot pie that she liked. And so the salad was really brought to be a backup meal for her. Fortunately, she did enjoy the pot pie (at least that’s what she said…) but we also thoroughly enjoyed the salad.

I haven’t always been the biggest fan of salads, but I was on board with this one. My wife especially enjoys it, this is one of her favorites.

I love how food can be all about sharing and enjoying together. And in my house when we request or talk about this salad, we just call it the Hansen salad. Cause that’s who shared it with us.

But I don’t know if that is a descriptive enough name for the site, so apple walnut spring mix salad it is.

Spring Mix Salad

This salad comes together quickly and is assembled by just tossing everything together. Just make sure that you start out with washed and prepared greens that are ready to eat.

Only the bacon needs to be cooked beforehand. And a bunch of the ingredients must be chopped. But other than that it is a cinch to make.

Optionally, you can set all of the toppings out in bowls separate from the greens. That way, people can assemble their own plates according to their tastes and any dietary restrictions. This is especially helpful if you are having a large group together with this salad.

For the dressing, I highly recommend a salad dressing shaker or a mason jar with a lid. The salad dressing likes to separate and a good, vigorous shaking together will help it stay emulsified long enough to serve. Stirring the dressing together is not as effective.

You can make the dressing ahead of time if desired. It will keep in the fridge for 2 to 4 weeks. Technically it could also be stored on the counter since all of the ingredients are shelf-stable. But that feels weird once you’ve mixed it up.

Salad Remix

There’s always an opportunity in cooking for changes and alterations in recipes. It’s the fun spice of life that makes cooking interesting in my opinion.

I think originally whenever our friends brought this salad over, the greens were all baby spinach. I like a little more variety to the greens, so I made it a spring mix salad. Spring mix includes a whole combination of greens and lettuces for different flavors and textures. But you could always try substituting with straight baby spinach, or whatever other greens you happen to have on hand.

Mixing up all of the other ingredients can be a fun adventure as well.

For the nuts, replace the walnuts with pecans or almonds. For the cheese, substitute the feta with another creamy variety like crumbled goat or gorgonzola. Toss in some blueberries or other fruit to add another dimension.

However you like it, make it your own. And enjoy this salad as either your next main dish or as the best side salad you’ve ever tasted.

Apple Walnut Spring Mix Salad

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: SaladsDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Total time

20

minutes

Creamy feta and avocado combine with crisp apple, bacon, and walnuts with a delightfully acidic dressing in this perfect spring mix salad

Ingredients

• Dressing

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 3 tablespoons white vinegar

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• Salad

• 6 cups washed spring mix greens

• 3 to 4 strips cooked bacon

• 1/2 cup chopped red onion

• 1 large avocado

• 1 large apple

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• 1/3 cup craisins

• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

• 1/2 cup prepared dressing

Directions

• Dressing
• Combine all dressing ingredients in a container with a lid
• Vigorously shake the container until the dressing is thoroughly combined
• Store the dressing in the fridge until ready to use, shaking to combine again just before serving
• Salad
• Crumble the cooked bacon
• Chop the red onion, avocado, apple, and walnuts into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch pieces
• Add the spring mix greens to a large bowl
• Top the greens with crumbled bacon, chopped red onion, chopped avocado, chopped apple, chopped walnuts, craisins, and feta cheese
• Toss the salad together with tongs
• Serve into bowls and top with salad dressing

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The post Easy Apple Walnut Spring Mix Salad Recipe appeared first on Do You Roux?.

All of my latest posts are desserts or sugar-related, I know. Don’t hate me. But candied walnuts are a little more versatile. Salads, toppings, granola, snacking, as well as desserts.

As a young college student, I had a part-time job at the movie theater. Shoutout to Harkins – they have the best movie popcorn. They offered candied pecans, walnuts, and almonds for sale along with the usual popcorn, soda, and candy.

While on the job, they would rotate team members through different positions as you learned. You would start off cleaning theaters and bathrooms. Then after getting a food handler license you could move into working concessions. And after a while, they would have you work the box office selling tickets.

But while at concessions you would take orders, make popcorn, build boxes, prep nachos, and switch out soda syrup boxes in the back. And once or twice every shift they would make batches of candied nuts. I never had the honor of making them myself, and I hated when they would start the machine up for a new batch.

Because it smelled so good. And I knew I wouldn’t be eating any. It was pure torture.

The Process for Candied Walnuts

But if you are making these walnuts for yourself, you won’t have that same problem.

I had trouble making candied walnuts for the longest time. The issue, in my eyes, was that I followed recipes that instructed me to put the nuts in with the sugar before it had melted. This ended up cooking the walnuts for far too long and they would always taste burnt.

The trick is to take the sugar to caramelization and then stir in the walnuts.

For this method, I add the sugar straight to the pan on medium heat and let it slowly melt. While it is melting, the sugar will also begin to caramelize. Once all the sugar is melted and reached the perfectly brown caramel color you want, add the walnuts and water and stir to coat. Let it cook a few more minutes to release some of the moisture.

Then remove the pan from the heat and spread the walnuts out on a covered baking sheet. You can use foil, parchment paper, or a silicone baking mat to line your baking sheet. Now put it into the oven at 350°F to dry and harden even more.

Once they have been in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, take them out and let them cool. After cooling, they will be sweet crunchy nuggets of caramelized flavor. You will need to break the walnuts apart since the sugar has hardened.

Store them in an airtight container or bag for up to 2 weeks, depending mostly on the moisture level in the air.

Flavor Options

For the base recipe below, I have not included anything in the ingredients that would add extra flavor to the candied nuts. But that doesn’t mean that other flavors are out of the question.

If you want to add some different flavor to the walnuts, mix it into the 1/2 cup of water before adding it into the pan. For most spices, between 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon should be enough – depending on how potent the flavor you want to add is.

Optional ingredients to flavor – vanilla, cinnamon, cayenne, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, brown sugar instead of white sugar, really whatever you think would taste great with the walnut flavor.

The warm spices that make up pumpkin pie spice would all really work well with the walnuts.

How to Make Candied Walnuts

Course: SnacksDifficulty: Moderate

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Total time

35

minutes

Perfect for topping salads, ice cream, and cakes, or for straight snacking.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar

• 3 cups walnuts

• 1/2 cup water

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C)
• Add the sugar to a thick-bottomed pan over medium heat
• Let the sugar melt, stirring occasionally, and it will begin to caramelize
• Once all of the sugar has melted and it has caramelized to a nice rich brown color, stir in the walnuts
• Add the water to the pan and stir to combine and coat, let it cook while stirring for 3 to 5 minutes
• Remove the pan from the heat and spread the walnuts on a parchment, silicone mat, or foil-lined baking sheet
• Bake them in the oven 5 to 10 minutes to lose moisture
• Remove them from the oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes, then break apart the walnuts and enjoy

The post How to Make Candied Walnuts appeared first on Do You Roux?.

For the longest time whenever I pictured a salad it was just a bland side salad that only really tasted good because it was doused in ranch dressing. And gorgonzola on a salad would never cross my mind. Perhaps that is why I would always turn up my nose whenever my wife would suggest salad for dinner. My canned response was that salad was not a meal. It was an afterthought on the side that you put on your plate if you had extra room.

How very wrong I was. My eyes were not yet opened. It took time to realize how much variety was possible with the simple salad. Instead of thinking just about the greens of the salad, think of all the toppings and what makes the salad unique. I mean, a salad with a fried and breaded chicken breast on top. Delicious.

I also did not approve of blue cheese for the longest time but came to my senses on that as well all because of one delicious meal. But that’s a story for another day.

Frying for Gorgonzola Pear Salad?

This will win no awards as the world’s healthiest salad. But I’m ok with that. Just look at that chicken up there in the photo. Breaded, pan-fried, delicious. Make sure to flatten the chicken to a relatively even thickness. This ensures that it will cook through evenly and will be fully cooked before any of the breadcrumbs start to burn. I actually had an extra breaded chicken breast from this recipe and had that for lunch the next day with just a squeeze of fresh lemon on top.

Heat and salads don’t typically mix. Greens like to wilt with higher temperatures. However, it is best to serve this salad with the chicken still warm. Not straight off the pan, you will need it to cool down enough to handle and slice. And at that point, it is ready to be served.

Salads really are all about how the different ingredients play off of each other for balance and this one has a perfect mix of fresh, sweet, creamy, salty, and crispy. So, bust out your salad bowl, get out your largest frying pan, and enjoy a homemade salad.

Gorgonzola Pear Salad with Chicken

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: SaladsDifficulty: Intermediate

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Total time

40

minutes

Salad with a tangy gorgonzola punch, pan-fried breaded chicken, and sweet juicy pears.

Ingredients

• Dressing

• 1 clove of garlic

• 1 small shallot

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• Breaded Chicken

• 2 cups panko bread crumbs

• 2 cups flour

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 2 eggs

• 4 chicken breasts

• 2 tablespoons butter, divided

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

• Salad

• 2 ripe red Anjou pears

• 1 cup walnuts

• 3 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese

• 10 ounces arugula (or other mixed greens)

Directions

• Make the dressing by blending together the first 8 ingredients, then pour into a container and chill until ready to serve the salad.
• Pound chicken to 1/2 inch thick. I put mine in a gallon Ziploc and then used the flat side of a meat tenderizer to flatten the chicken.
• Prepare dredges for breading the chicken by getting three wide bowls or plates and putting the breadcrumbs in one, whisking the two eggs together in another, and mixing the flour, salt, and pepper together in the third.
• Coat chicken in flour on both sides, dip into the egg mixture to cover, and then crust it in breadcrumbs. Place the chicken aside on a plate. Repeat for all of the chicken.
• In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat. Add 2 pieces of coated chicken and fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes on each side. Place on a plate with paper towels. Repeat with the other two chicken breasts using remaining butter and olive oil.
• Once the chicken has cooled enough to touch, cut into 1/2 inch slices.
• Core and slice pears.
• Assemble the salad in a large bowl with a bed of arugula, pears, blue cheese, and walnuts. Add chicken and drizzle with dressing.

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