Autumn Chopped Salad

Who knew a salad could taste like Fall??

This one is perfect.

Flavorful, colorful, and still gives you that festive Fall feel.

Autumn Chopped Salad

(Original recipe by Madison at Espresso and Cream)

via

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 2 medium pears, chopped (I used apples)
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 8 slices thick-cut bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled
• 4 to 6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
• Poppy seed Salad Dressing
• Balsamic Vinaigrette

Directions

 

On a large platter, combine the lettuce, pears, cranberries, pecans, bacon and feta cheese. Drizzle generously with poppy seed dressing, followed by some of the balsamic vinaigrette. (she estimated that she used about a cup of dressing: 70 percent poppy seed dressing and 30 percent balsamic vinaigrette) If you prefer your salad to have more dressing, feel free to experiment with the combination.





Mandarin Romaine Salad

I have a great relationship with my former coworkers. I used to work for a small, costume jewelry store doing their engraving (among other things, but mostly engraving...). Anyway, all us ladies would get together for dinners, craft nights, etc. One of the ladies always served this salad when we ate at her house. She has some really strict dietary restrictions, so for her to find such a yummy salad (that the rest of us could enjoy) was pretty rare. We loved it so much that we all asked for the recipe.

I don't know where she got it from, so I swiped a picture from Taste of Home that looked similar to it.

(and yes, I'm totally going to act like I haven't neglected the blog again...)

Mandarin Romaine Salad

(by Maureen Dailey)



Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 5 tsp sugar
• 1 head romaine lettuce
• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 green onions, including tops, chopped
• 1 can (11 oz) mandarin orange sections, drained

Vinaigrette:

• 1/4 cup salad oil (canola)
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together vinaigrette ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to use. In a small saute pan, combine almonds and sugar. Using low heat, stir constantly until almonds are coated with melted sugar and slightly browned. Remove from heat. When cool, break almonds apart.

Tear romaine into bite-sized pieces and place in a large salad bowl. Add celery, green onions, and orange sections. Toss and refrigerate.

Before serving, toss with almonds and dressing.

Southwestern Avocado and Black Bean Salad

You're probably going to start seeing a theme on here. I'm a massive Paula Deen fan (um... ok, clarification... I'm not actually massive. However, I have a feeling Paula's food may have the potential to make you that way if you eat it too often). And really, all she does is take what every Southern girl's MamMaw makes and adds more butter. Alright, I'll give her more credit than that. She just enhances awesome food.

Anyways...

I did get this recipe from Paula's show, but it's actually her son Jamie's concoction.

I fell in love with this salad when I tried it. Salads are always so incredibly good when they're filled with lots of different stuff. Every bite has a different flavor in it. I LOVE me some avocados too, so I knew it would be a winner.
But what really won me over was when we invited some friends over for dinner. At the time, my friend was going through a diet based off the book "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. It leaves you with a pretty limited food selection. Basically all she was able to eat were fruits, vegetables, beans, tofu, and nuts, etc. Most salad dressings weren't allowed either. As soon as I heard this, I knew this salad would be perfect. And it was.

And there's really not a whole lot of thinking to it. Just dump it in a big bowl and mix. Fyi, I didn't use as many black beans as it called for. I only used one can, and that was plenty. Don't get too hung up on the measurements. Play with it and put the amount in that suits your tastes!

Ingredients

• 
  
  1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro leaves
• 
  
  1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 
  
  2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 
  
  2 or 3 dashes hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
• 
  
  4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 
  
  2 avocados, peeled and diced
• 
  
  2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels, thawed and drained
• 
  
  2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 
  
  1 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
• 
  
  About 3/4 cup (3-ounces) grated pepper jack cheese
• 
  
  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

 Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together the cilantro, oil, lime juice and hot sauce.

In a large serving bowl, add the lettuce, avocado, corn, beans, tomatoes, and cheese. Add the dressing and toss well. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve.