Recipe: Hearty Fall Salad

Hearty fall salad time – filled with crisp romaine lettuce, crunchy almond slivers, and juicy red grapes, this is a great salad for your upcoming Thanksgiving dinner. Okay, let’s check out the recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 large romaine hearts
• 1/2 cup of chopped almonds
• 6 slices of chicken bacon
• 1 1/2 cups of quartered red grapes
• 1/2 cup of shredded swiss cheese
• 1/4 cup of shredded parmesan cheese

Dressing

• 6 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1 clove of minced garlic
• 1/2 a teaspoon of dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon of agave
• salt and pepper to taste

First, chop then wash the romaine hearts – you’re looking for bitesized pieces so the salad mixed well. Then, once the lettuce is drying, set it off to the side and toast the almond pieces. I toast them in a naked cast iron pan for about 5 minutes, tossing the pan ever so often and rarely taking my attention away from it. Burnt almonds aren’t very good!

Up next, after setting the almonds to the side in a separate dish, I chop the bacon and then cook it in the cast iron pan. Usually the bacon has enough fat to cook itself, but if it needs a bit of help, add some butter or oil, whichever you use in your pan, to help the bacon along. You’re looking for crispy bacon bits.

While the bacon is cooking, wash and quarter the grapes, and then shred the swiss ad parmesan cheese. Once the bacon is done, blot with a paper towel and set it aside.

Combine all the dressing ingredients together in a jar and shake – then shake some more!

Time to build the salad – in a large bowl add the romaine lettuce and top with the dressing. Toss well to ensure all the lettuce is well dressed. Then, grab a white dish and lay down the romaine lettuce, then top with the almonds, bacon, grapes, followed by the shredded cheeses. Give the salad a few light lifts and you’re all set – ready to eat!

Well, there you have it – a hearty fall salad full of flavour! Happy salad making.

Thanks for stopping by and happy eating.