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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.