Loaded Winter Salad

I am often asked to bring a salad to big family gatherings because I love making them and it must show!  There are two keys to a good salad: fresh lettuce(take the time to use fresh, not bagged) and a homemade dressing. EVERYONE will ask what is in the dressing or where you bought it…you made it!

Go Lightly Gourmet‘s ‘Winter Salads to Brighten the Day’ was my inspiration for this loaded Christmas Day salad. Mary Ann, a facebook and local friend, requested my version for the Christmas Day Loaded Winter salad…

Loved your winter salad Christmas Day. Would you mind sharing it with me. I would love to serve New Year’s Eve or Day.

–Mary Ann

ML’s Loaded Winter Salad and Homemade Dressing (makes a HUGE salad for HUGE family!)

Salad Ingredients

1 head fresh romaine lettuce

1 head buttercrunch lettuce

1 head Iceberg lettuce

2 Fuji apples diced

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 purple onion thinly sliced (or omit, it’s pretty strong!)

1/2 to 1 cup dried cherries

1/2 to 1 cup candied walnuts or pecans (halves)

1/2 to 1 cup crumbled feta or bleu cheese

7 very thinly sliced prosciutto pan fried crunchy

 

Wash lettuce, drain and set out to dry on paper towels or spin with lettuce spinner.  Chop lettuce into bite sized pieces once dry.  To candy the walnuts or pecans, add one cup of sugar to a saute pan on medium heat, add nuts and stir until the nuts are coated with the melted sugar.  I had the prosciutto on hand so I will bake it until crunchy. Break up into small bits.  You’ll need a large bowl. Add chopped lettuce mixture to bowl, then add apples, spritz with juice of lemon to keep apples from turning brown. Add onion slices, dried cherries, nuts, cheese, then prosciutto.

Maple Dressing

May sound strange with maple syrup, but it is delish.

1/2 cup of  Duke’s  mayo
1/2  cup of maple syrup
½ cup Champagne vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 head of shallots chopped roughly
3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
3 teaspoon of fresh thyme or to taste

I use a  hand blender to blend all of these ingredients together. Let sit overnight or at least a bit before you serve on salad.

Remember, this is a very large salad for a large crowd!