This bold salad features peppery arugula, crisp apples, sweet dried cranberries, pecans and scallions, tossed in a five-ingredient apple cider dressing.
It’s versatile and only takes minutes to make. Add sliced chicken or pork for a quick weeknight meal or serve it as a fresh side along with homemade dinner rolls with your weekend supper.
How to Make Apple Cider Dressing
I first served this at a big family dinner at my house. My Dad is a big fan of apple cider vinegar for its health benefits. It’s known to help balance blood sugar and aid digestion.
Me personally, I dig the way it tastes. A little sweet, a whole lot of ‘zing’. And that’s how I describe this dressing.
All you need are five ingredients: apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, salt and your favorite neutral flavored oil. I like to use avocado oil. Vegetable, canola or grapeseed oil would work well, too.
Add them all to a mason jar, stir vigorously for a few seconds and you’ve got liquid gold.
What Kind of Apples Are Best for Salad?
I love using Cosmic Crisp apples in salad because they’re slightly sweet with a hefty dose of tartness. They’re flavorful enough to stand up to the arugula and other punchy flavors.
Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, and Gala are also great apples to use in bold salads like this.
Substitutions for This Salad
Feel free to get creative with the components of the salad. You’ll see I recommend a mix of arugula and red leaf lettuce for the greens, but you could use any lettuce you like. Green leaf, romaine, spinach, you can’t go wrong here.
Same goes for the nuts. I like pecans because of how they are often paired up with cranberries. You could substitute slivered almonds, walnuts or even pistachios.
Want to use a different dried fruit? Go for it! Dried cherries, chopped dried apricots, dried blueberries, figs or dates are all great options.
Other Super Salads
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Arugula and Apple Salad with Apple Cider Dressing
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
- Category: salad
- Method: salad
- Cuisine: American
Description
A bold salad with arugula, crisp apples, sweet dried cranberries, pecans and scallions, tossed in a five-ingredient apple cider dressing.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup avocado oil
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbs honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large apple diced
- 1 Tbs lemon juice
- 3 cups arugula
- 3 cups green leaf or red leaf lettuce
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 3 scallions, sliced
Instructions
- To make the dressing, combine 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup avocado oil, 2 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 Tbs honey, and 1/2 tsp salt in a jar or glass.
- Stir vigorously with a fork until fully combined and the dressing has a nice, syrupy consistency. Set the dressing aside until ready to serve.
- In a small bowl combine the diced apple and toss with 1 Tbs of lemon juice to prevent the apple from turning brown.
- In a large salad bowl, combine 3 cups of arugula and 3 cups of lettuce. Top with diced apple, pecans, cranberries, and scallions.
- Toss the salad with the desired amount of dressing.
- You will likely have extra dressing that you can keep for up to a week in the refrigerator. Use for other salads and dipping vegetables.
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