Description
Crispy Apple Cranberry Delight brings classic autumn flavors together in a remarkable dessert. Juicy apples and tart cranberries mingle beneath a golden crumble, promising a delightful experience that will transport you to cozy harvest moments.
Ingredients
Scale
Fruits and Nuts:
- 1 cup diced honeycrisp apples (about 1 medium apple; substitutes: Fuji, Gala, Braeburn)
- 1.25 cups orange-flavored dried cranberries (alternative: regular dried cranberries)
- 0.75 cup candied Fisher pecans
Cheese:
- 0.75 cup blue cheese crumbles (alternatives: gorgonzola or feta cheese)
Dressing and Seasoning:
- 0.25 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 to 4 tablespoons (29.57 to 59.14 milliliters) honey
- 2 to 4 tablespoons (29.57 to 59.14 milliliters) olive oil
- 0.5 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 0.5 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- 4 cups butter lettuce, romaine or your favorite greens
Instructions
- Carefully arrange a vibrant carpet of crisp lettuce across a spacious serving platter, creating a verdant foundation for the salad.
- Artfully scatter precisely diced apples, ensuring even distribution across the lettuce base, adding a refreshing crunch and subtle sweetness.
- Generously sprinkle ruby-red cranberries over the salad, creating bursts of tangy flavor throughout the dish.
- Distribute golden, caramelized candied pecans to introduce a delightful nutty texture and rich, sweet undertones.
- Crumble creamy blue cheese across the surface, allowing the pungent cheese to meld with the other ingredients and provide a bold flavor profile.
- Pour all dressing components into a high-powered blender, combining ingredients until they reach a harmonious, slightly textured consistency.
- Modulate the honey quantity to achieve the perfect balance of sweetness, tasting and adjusting as needed.
- Season the dressing with a judicious pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to enhance the overall flavor complexity.
- Gently cascade the prepared dressing over the salad, ensuring each ingredient receives a delicate coating.
- Softly toss the components, allowing the flavors to intertwine without bruising the delicate lettuce or crushing the pecans.
- Present the salad immediately to preserve the optimal temperature, texture, and vibrant appearance of the dish.
Notes
- Chopping apples and cranberries ahead of time prevents last-minute kitchen stress and keeps ingredients fresh.
- Candied pecans add a delightful sweet crunch that elevates the entire salad texture and flavor profile.
- Blending dressing ingredients creates a harmonious mix where cranberry bits provide unexpected bursts of tangy sweetness.
- Blue cheese crumbles contribute a rich, creamy element that beautifully balances the fruity and nutty components.
- Serving immediately ensures maximum crispness of lettuce and maintains the vibrant, fresh quality of each ingredient.
- Adjusting honey levels allows personalization of dressing sweetness to match individual taste preferences.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Blending
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
- Calories: 245 kcal
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 280 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 14 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 12 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 15 mg