If you enjoy bitter greens like arugula and are looking for fun & tasty salad ideas, consider pairing endives and arugula with fresh apples, candied pecans, blue cheese crumbles, and an apple cider honey mustard vinaigrette.
The recipe below makes one entrée-sized salad, or roughly three smaller-sized salads, with some candied pecans leftover for snacking during the week.
Endive & Arugula Salad with Apple Cider Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
If you enjoy bitter greens like arugula and are looking for fun & tasty salad ideas, consider pairing endives and arugula with fresh apples, candied pecans, blue cheese crumbles, and an apple cider honey mustard vinaigrette. The recipe below makes one entrée-sized salad, or roughly three smaller-sized salads, with some candied pecans leftover for snacking during the week.
Ingredients
For the Candied Pecans:
- ½ of an egg white
- 1 tsp water
- 3 Tbsp white granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 8 oz pecan halves
For the Apple Cider Honey Mustard Vinaigrette:
- 4 oz (½ cup) fresh apple cider, reduced down to 1 Tbsp
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 shallot, finely minced
- ½ garlic clove, finely minced
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
For the Remaining Salad Components:
- 1.5 cups fresh arugula
- 12 endive leaves, cut in 1/8” slices
- ¼ cup blue cheese of choice, crumbled
- 6 green grapes, cut in half
- 3 Tbsp dried raisins, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
- 1 Honeycrisp or Gala apple, cut medium dice right before service
- 2 fresh mint leaves, finely sliced right before service
- Kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper
Instructions
For the Candied Pecans:
- Preheat the oven to 290°F.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the egg white with the water, sugar, cinnamon, and kosher salt until combined.
- Add the pecans and stir until the pecans are evenly coated.
- Place the coated pecans on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and spread them out into a single layer.
- Bake for 40 minutes, stirring every ten minutes.
- Remove the pecans from the oven and let cool before assembling the salad.
For the Apple Cider Honey Mustard Vinaigrette:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the reduced apple cider, apple cider vinegar, shallot, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, freshly-ground black pepper, Dijon mustard, honey, and olive oil until combined.
- To assemble the salads: In a large bowl, dress the fresh arugula and endive with your desired quantity of the vinaigrette.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Combine the arugula and endives with the blue cheese, grapes, raisins, fresh apple, and mint.
- Divide the salad among three plates, and top with the candied pecans.
- Drizzle a few drops of the vinaigrette over the top of the salad.
- Serve immediately, and enjoy!
Notes
You can make the candied pecans and vinaigrette before you start gathering the remaining salad ingredients. Any leftover pecans can be stored in an air-tight jar for snacking later.