Gourmet Green Salad Recipe

Gourmet Green Salad
10-12 cups mixed greens
1-3 heads romaine hearts
1-2 Granny Smith apples (or pears) cut in small slices
Craisins
Feta or Gorgonzola cheese (I used Feta)
1 lb bacon cooked and chopped coarsely
Sugared Pecans
Croutons

Sugared Pecans: **(see note below)

1/2 cup Pecans, chopped
2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar

Place nuts and sugar in small skillet. Cook over medium high heat until sugar starts to dissolve. Stir the entire time. The sugar will darken and coat the nuts. It only takes about 10 minutes or so. Remove from heat and spread on cookie sheet to cool.

Dressing:

1/4 c. red onion, chopped fine or grated
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1 cup sugar
1-2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
2 teaspoons salt
ground pepper to taste
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped fine or grated
2 cups Canola Oil

Combine all ingredients except oil in a blender or food processor and blend well. While processing, slowly add canola oil and blend well. This will keep in refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. If dressing really thickens up in the fridge, just heat in the microwave briefly to thin.

Dress salad immediately before serving.

Karen’s Notes on her salad:

Make the dressing the day before so the flavors can blend
**Sugared pecans: I used 1 cup pecans and about ¼ cup sugar because they’re my favorite
I used 2 Granny Smith apples & left the skin on.
I used Feta cheese. The Gorgonzola is tasty but pretty strong & not always to everyone’s liking.
I only used half of the dressing to cover the amount of greens I served at Book Club.
To save time, I fried up the bacon, chopped it and also made the sugared pecans the day before.