When we put this salad together in the bowl and dressed it, it looked liked Christmas.  So beautiful.

And then we stirred it and plated it.  Unfortunately, it kind of lost its beauty.  It still tasted amazing, but it’s not the prettiest thing to look at, so keep this in mind if you’re going for presentation.

Adapted from oh she glows.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday and I hope you ate more salads last week than I did.  I spent the week in Texas eating meat.

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

• 2 – 3 heads red leaf lettuce, chopped
• 3 large apples, chopped
• 1/2 – 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 -2 cups chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
• Pepita (peeled pumpkin) seeds

Dressing:

• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, or adjust to taste
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp orange juice
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing:  In a medium pot, heat the cranberries, maple syrup, and vinegar over medium heat until the cranberries burst, about 7-10 mins.  Slightly cool cranberry mixture and place in a blender along with the rest of the ingredients (except salt and pepper). Blend until smooth. Now add salt, 1/4 tsp at a time, to taste. Blend again. Adjust other ingredients to taste if necessary.

Toss salad ingredients with dressing.  Serve.

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