Fall Harvest Salad
This loaded fall harvest salad is tossed with a warm maple-bacon vinaigrette and topped with crisp sliced apples, pears, & carrots, toasted pecans, and gorgonzola crumbles.Â
I immediately bookmarked this fall harvest salad from Simply Scratch when I saw it. It is loaded with ingredients I love, and I thought it would pair well with herb pork chops with caramelized shallots, roasted mini potatoes, and some Parmesan dinner rolls. This delicious, hearty salad was a big hit, and paired well with the rest of the meal.
Fall Harvest Salad with a Warm Maple-Bacon Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
- 2 slices of thick bacon, cooked and roughly chopped, reserving 1 tablespoon bacon grease for the dressing
Warm Maple-Bacon Vinaigrette:
- ½ small shallot, finely diced
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1½ tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1-1½ tbsp red wine vinegar, to taste
- 1 tbsp reserved bacon fat leftover in the skillet
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Remaining Salad Ingredients:
- 5 oz mixed greens
- ½ small Honeycrisp apple, thinly sliced
- ½ small ripe pear, thinly sliced
- ½ cup sliced carrots
- 2-3 tbsp toasted pecans, chopped
- 2 tbsp gorgonzola, crumbled
- Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
How to Make a Fall Harvest Salad with a Warm Maple-Bacon Vinaigrette:
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until browned and crispy. Place the bacon on paper towels to drain, then chop coarsely.
Drain all but 1 tablespoon of bacon grease from the skillet.
Prepare the warm maple-bacon vinaigrette by adding the shallot to the bacon grease in the large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes.
To the bacon grease in the large skillet, whisk in the real maple syrup, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, sea salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. Whisk until well combined. Taste and add more vinegar if desired.
Prepare the salad by tossing the greens with some of the well-whisked warm maple-bacon vinaigrette, then toss to coat evenly.
Finish the salad by pouring the dressed lettuce onto a serving plate.
Top with apple, pear, and carrot slices, toasted pecans, and gorgonzola. Season with freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
Serve immediately with any remaining dressing on the side.
Equipment
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 2 slices of thick bacon cooked and roughly chopped, reserving 1 tablespoon bacon grease for the dressing
Warm Maple-Bacon Vinaigrette:
- ½ small shallot finely diced
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1½ tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1-1½ tbsp red wine vinegar to taste
- 1 tbsp reserved bacon fat leftover in the skillet
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Remaining Salad Ingredients:
- 5 oz mixed greens
- ½ small Honeycrisp apple thinly sliced
- ½ small ripe pear thinly sliced
- ½ cup sliced carrots
- 2-3 tbsp toasted pecans chopped
- 2 tbsp gorgonzola crumbled
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until browned and crispy. Place the bacon on paper towels to drain, then chop coarsely.
- Drain all but 1 tablespoon of bacon grease from the skillet.
- Prepare the warm maple-bacon vinaigrette by adding the shallot to the bacon grease in the large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes.
- To the bacon grease in the large skillet, whisk in the real maple syrup, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, sea salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. Whisk until well combined. Taste and add more vinegar if desired.
- Prepare the salad by tossing the greens with some of the well-whisked warm maple-bacon vinaigrette. Toss to coat.
- Finish the salad by pouring the dressed lettuce onto a serving plate. Top with apple, pear, and carrot slices, toasted pecans, and gorgonzola. Season with freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
- Serve immediately with any remaining dressing on the side.
Such a wonderful combination of flavours and textures!
This salad is perfect for fall – I eat a Honey Crisp Apple every day for fiber – they are soooo good.
You had me at reserving bacon grease for salad dressing. Honestly, if every salad involved warm skillet-whisked bacon fat and pure maple syrup, I would finally meet my daily vegetable intake goals with zero complaints. The pairing with those pork chops sounds incredible too—though let’s be real, half of those crispy bacon bits would have mysteriously vanished from the paper towel before making it onto the greens in my kitchen!