As I was leafing through my sister-in-law's copy of Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics on Saturday night, I stumbled across a beautiful photo of Ina's Cape Cod Chopped Salad and started drooling. Sad, right? A salad? Drooling??
(Don't worry, I drooled over each and every dessert too.)
I've been craving a good salad recently, probably because we've had soup for the last five nights in a row and I'm really ready for a change. We had some leftover bacon in the fridge too so this guy was a no-brainer.
This salad is very similar to one we've made before, except this one has bacon. And orange juice. And toasted walnuts. It's really really delicious, and also very colorful and fun. Good for a sad, dreary winter day.
Oh, and did you catch the part where it has bacon? Perfect.
Bacon and Apple Chopped Salad
Slightly adapted from Ina Garten
Salad:
4 ounces lettuce (the original recipe called for arugula; we used butter lettuce and radicchio)
3-4 slices cooked bacon, chopped
1 apple, sliced
1/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
Small handful of dried cranberries
2-3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
Dressing:
1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/3 cup olive oil
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
Toast walnuts in a non-stick skillet for a few minutes until slightly browned. Toss lettuce with apples, toasted walnuts, cranberries, bacon, and goat cheese.
Put all dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well. Drizzle over the top of the salad, toss again, and enjoy.
