A September Salad
Never ever would any good Southern girl say she is tired of the bounty of summer tomatoes, but by the middle of September it’s fun to add a little variety to your salads. Sometimes a recipe is a beautiful hand me down from you family or shared by a friend, but sometimes it involves a dig in the fridge that turns up treasure.
All are equally fun, but this week when we had a dig that did reveal treasures so delicious it’s not fair to not share. Most gardens this time of year are between summer veggies and fall greens, but thankfully every grocery now has arugula on hand and so did we. A big bowl of apples on the counter is beautiful and keeps us from grabbing a snack worth regretting later. So, apples and arugula made for a worthy beginning. I had a red onion and – this was kind of weird – some fresh fennel and I thought- Why not? Fennel is a great flavor anytime and thinly sliced in a salad it’s such a yummy surprise. If you hate fennel well first of all I’m sorry about that, but you could go for the same texture with celery.
Toasted pecans are an apple’s best friend and blue cheese is my husband’s best friend so that seemed like a natural. Now dressing – I love a salad with apples and a maple dressing so maple syrup, balsamic vinegar (I use a vinegar with lemon- but if that’s not handy a squirt of lemon will do.) plus olive oil pair. Shake that all up in a jar with a pinch of salt. To pair with the fennel a bit of tarragon was a nice addition to the dressing. Fresh is always nice, but dried tarragon is one of the best dried herbs for retaining flavor. This might sound like the simplest of salads, but somehow everything just worked, and we loved it. It even smelled lovely and fresh. The crunch of the fennel and apples and the tang of blue cheese just worked wonders Should a similar dig through your kitchen reveal some of these treasures make this salad and I think you will love it too! Enjoy
Ingredients
4-6 cups arugula – loosely packed
2 small apples, diced
1 fennel bulb, slice in small rings
½ red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup toasted pecans
½ cup crumbled blue cheese
Combine in a large salad bowl
Dressing
2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp White or lemon balsamic vinegar (add a tsp lemon if using white balsamic)
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp tarragon
Pinch of salt
Shake in a jar with tight fitting lid.
Toss with salad.
