Perfect Winter Salad

Salad is something that I do not eat enough of. My excuse is that my husband doesn't like it, and so there's no need to make it just for me! I do love salad with cranberries and pecans, though, so this salad sounded great. Publix has their bagged salad on sale 2/$4 this week and I've picked up most of the other ingredients on sale the last few weeks. I had to go get the apple today. I know what you're thinking...mayonnaise and maple syrup...together? Neither one of the flavors stand out above the others. The combination is wonderful, even better than I expected. This is one where I'm not sure how "Aunt Jemima" would do as a substitution. I believe in splurging on the real maple syrup. I use it a lot and there is just no comparison. The bottle at Walmart costs around $6.78 (gulp, I know) and Sam's has a large bottle for around $13 or so. This dressing reminded me of Tammy's Dressing that I made a couple of weeks ago which is my favorite. Definitely right up my alley! I assembled just my one salad. I didn't make a big bowl like I would if we had company over. This way, I can assemble a salad for lunch tomorrow and add the dressing right before I eat. Yummy!



1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
2 tablespoons minced shallot (I omitted this)
2 tsp. sugar (I used 1 packet of Splenda)
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 pkg. salad greens
2 medium tart apples, thinly sliced (with a squeeze of lemon)
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pecan halves (I chopped mine)
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion (I omitted this)

In a small bowl, combine the first five ingredients; whisk in oil. Chill until serving.

In a salad bowl, combine the salad greens, apples, cranberries, pecans and onion. Just before serving, drizzle with dressing and toss to coat. I added a little bit of black pepper here. I think it really balances out the sweet dressing.

I built my own personal-sized salad as opposed to making the whole thing. I did make all of the dressing though, and plan to use it throughout the week. If you do make the entire thing, pour just enough dressing over the salad to coat it. It makes a lot and I think it would be too much even for 2 bags of salads.

Go ahead...try this combination. You'll be pleasantly surprised!


Enjoy!


(adapted from Taste of Home)