Harvest Salad Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, toss together the spinach, cranberries, blue cheese, tomatoes, avocado and red onion; set aside.
• In a small bowl, whisk together jam, vinegar, walnut oil, pepper and salt.
• Taste, and adjust amounts to suit your liking.
• Pour over the salad and toss to coat.

Steps:

• Put the raisins in a small bowl and pour boiling water over them to cover. Let stand until plump and soft, about 10 minutes. Drain.
• Put the raisins, grapes, apricots, rosemary and onion in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice and stir in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
• Separate the radicchio into leaves, saving the heart for another use. Tear into bite size pieces and add to the dried fruit mixture along with the spinach. Toss well. Divide among 4 plates and top with the prosciutto, if using. Scatter the pine nuts over the top.
• Frying rosemary on the branch removes its slightly soapy, bitter flavor so you can use more. Heat 1-inch oil in a deep saute pan to 350 degrees F. Deep-fry the rosemary for 30 seconds and drain on paper towels. Strip the leaves off the stems and crush the leaves in the paper towels to remove any excess oil. Mince and store in a clean, tightly sealed container. Use the fried rosemary to make a seasoned salt by adding it to a mixture of black pepper, dried lemon zest and salt.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Arrange walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast in oven for 5 minutes, or until nuts begin to brown.
• In a large bowl, toss together the spinach, walnuts, cranberries, blue cheese, tomatoes, avocado, and red onion.
• In a small bowl, whisk together jam, vinegar, walnut oil, pepper, and salt. Pour over the salad just before serving, and toss to coat.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel and seed the butternut squash; cut into 3/4 inch cubes.
• Toss together the squash, olive oil, honey, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. place in a single layer in a lightly greased aluminum foil lined jelly-roll pan.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the squash is tender and begins to brown, stirring once after 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
• Pulse the poppy-seed dressing and cranberries in a blender 3 to 4 times or until the cranberries are coarsely chopped.
• Toss together the squash, salad greens, feta cheese, pecans, and bacon on a large serving platter. Serve with the dressing mixture.

Steps:

• To caramelize the pears: Cut each pear into 8 wedges. Melt the butter with the honey in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pears, reduce the heat to medium and cook until they are golden and caramelized on 1 side. Turn the pears and cook until browned and tender, about 5 minutes more. Transfer the pears to a platter to cool.
• To make the vinaigrette: Place the pumpkin in a saucepan. Add 2 inches of water. Cover and simmer over medium-high heat until the pumpkin is tender, about 12 minutes.
• Transfer the pumpkin to a blender. Add the ginger and shallots and puree, then add the Dijon and dried mustard. With the blender on, add the honey, then the lemon juice, oil, and orange juice. Season with the salt and pepper.
• To cook the duck: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Trim any excess fat from the duck breasts. Using a paring knife, score the skin in a diamond pattern being careful not to pierce the flesh. Rub the thyme leaves into the skin and flesh of the duck breasts, then season both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and then the duck breasts skin-side down. Cook, browning the skin and melting the under layer of fat for about 5 minutes. Drain the fat from the skillet then transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast for 18 to 22 minutes for medium rare. Remove the duck from the oven and rest it for 7 to 8 minutes before slicing. Turn the oven off.
• To prepare the goat cheese: Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl. Combine the bread crumbs, hazelnuts, red pepper, herbs, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Dip the cheese rounds in the egg then gently coat with the bread crumb mixture.
• Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Fry the cheese until golden, about 1 minute per side. Transfer the goat cheese to a baking sheet and hold in the oven (it will still be warm) until ready to serve.
• To assemble the salad: Dress the mustard greens with pumpkin vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper. Slice the duck. Put the greens on large plates. Arrange 4 pears on each plate. Top each salad with goat cheese and sliced duck. Season the salads with a bit more salt and pepper and serve accompanied by additional dressing, if desired.

Steps:

• Layer first 5 ingredients in bowl.
• Drizzle with dressing.
• Top with pretzels.

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine the vinegar, oil, chives, sugar, salt and cayenne; whisk in cream until well combined. Set aside., In a small skillet, melt butter over medium heat; stir in pecans and sugar. Cook and stir until pecans are toasted and coated with sugar. Remove pecans to paper towels to drain and cool., In a large bowl, combine the pear slices, lettuce, pecans and 1/3 cup vinaigrette and toss to coat.