Salad: A Fall Food?
When you think of fall food, you may think of pumpkin spice, pie, turkey, and roasted butternut squash. But salad? Maybe not so much. Let me help change your mind with this fall frisee salad, which has perfectly balanced flavors of tart apple, sweet cranberries, rich walnuts and funky blue cheese. It also gets a hearty drizzle of buttermilk dressing and can easily be scaled up to make it the main course.
Pair Frisee with Blue Cheese
What is frisee? It is in the chicory family of lettuce and is slightly bitter. Don’t let that turn you off, however. When paired with the right flavors, which this recipe has, it is just amazing.
I received frisee in my produce box a few weeks ago and was not too enthusiastic about it. I had to think outside of my normal salad routine to create a salad that I loved.
Bacon was an obvious choice but I didn’t have any at the time. Instead I used a tangy buttermilk dressing and rich blue cheese. Those strong flavors help compliment the bitterness of the greens and keep me wanting more.
A few weeks ago I took a farm tour at P. A. Bowen Farmstead. Their farm was beautiful and the cheese tasting at the end was even better. I loved all the cheeses, but I especially loved the blue cheese. This is what I used in this salad. It was absolute perfection.
The crunchy green apples and sweet-tart cranberries also balance out the frisee. Each bite of salad has a little bit of sweet, a little bit of tangy, and a little bit of excitement.
How to Bulk Up This Salad
You could serve this salad as a light lunch. You could serve as as a side to a main dish, or even serve it alongside Thanksgiving dinner. If you want to make this salad into more of an entree, you could add wild rice, butternut squash, soft boiled eggs and/or bacon. There are so many options, and now that you have the recipe, there is no reason not to make it.
Thanks for reading, and see you next time.
Rebekah
Other Delicious Salads
- Kale Salad with White Wine Vinaigrette: A refreshing salad with sharp cheddar, tart cranberries, and a tangy vinaigrette.
- Farm Fresh Roasted Sweet Potato Salad: Delicious served cold or at room temperature, this sweet potato salad has a tasty red bell pepper dressing.
- Beet Salad with Walnuts and Goat Cheese: Winter delight: beets. Served with goat cheese and toasted walnuts, this one is sure to please.
Fall Frisee Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups frisee lettuce washed, dried, and chopped
- 1 tart green apple peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbled
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- optional add-ins: wild rice, soft boiled egg, bacon
- 1/2 cup mayo choose one without vegetable oils
- 1/2 cup raw buttermilk or use 1/2 cup raw milk mixed with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp coconut sugar or raw honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
Instructions
- Arranged washed, dried, and chopped frisee on two plates. Top with green apple, walnuts, blue cheese, and cranberries. Prepare any additional toppings, such as soft boiled egg or bacon., to finish the salad.
- Make dressing. Add mayo to bowl, Whisk in buttermilk, vinegar, coconut sugar (or honey), salt, and onion powder. Pour a few tablespoons over each salad. Store extra in jar in fridge.
