Apple Walnut Salad with White Balsamic Vinaigrette
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Say goodbye to boring and uninspiring salads at your table, when you serve this Apple Walnut Salad with a White Balsamic Vinaigrette. Slice tart apples, and add them to roughly chopped arugula and walnuts seasoned with honey and cinnamon. For the final tasty step, sprinkle with blue cheese.
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Apple Walnut Salad
The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. I highly recommend reading all the way through for any tips or substitute suggestions, to ensure that you have any specialized ingredients and equipment required and that you understand the steps and timings involved.
Arugula (also known as rocket) is extremely easy to grow from seed in containers or your garden.
We love growing salad leaves (we often buy a bag of mixed seeds) because they’re so easy and they are usually “cut and come again”, which means you can harvest when the leaves are young and they will keep on growing and in turn, providing tender leaves all season long!
A range of leafy vegetables can be grown as cut and come again, including:
Amaranth, basil, beetroot, chicory, coriander, chard, corn salad, dandelion, endive, komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach), land cress, leaf celery, lettuce, mizuna, mustard, pak choi, parsley, purslane, radicchio, red kale, rocket (arugula), sorrel, and spinach.
Crops that are usually grown for their roots such as beetroot, radish, and turnip also have leaves that are tasty when harvested young.
This substantial apple walnut salad packs a lot of flavor into each bite with its winning combination of peppery arugula, seasoned walnuts, tart apples, sharp blue cheese, and a nicely sweetened vinaigrette.
As with many salads, this one would work well as a starter, side, or main dish.
Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe
While most ingredients can be bought in grocery stores, for your convenience, any specialized or notable ingredients (and equipment) needed for this recipe have been listed below and linked to Amazon or other stores if available online.
It does not include staple ingredients such as oil, salt, and pepper, as you’re likely to have those in your kitchen already. The complete list of ingredients with measurements is found in the recipe card.
- Fresh Produce – Arugula (Rocket), Apples, Lemons, Red Onion, Garlic.
- Dairy – Blue Cheese – such as Stilton, Roquefort, or Gorgonzola. Alternatively, if you don’t like blue cheese, substitute it for goat’s cheese.
- Walnuts
- Honey – try to buy locally produced honey when possible.
- Ground Cinnamon
- White Balsamic Vinegar
- Dijon Mustard
Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog use both cup measurements and/or weighted measurements. American cups and kitchen food scales are handy pieces of equipment to have in your kitchen as it means you’ll be able to make all of the different recipes on my blog. I try to give American, imperial, and metric measurements in my recipes. Please note, you can mix cup measurements with weighted measurements, but never mix imperial (pounds, ounces, pints, etc.,) with metric (kilograms, grams, litres, etc.,).
More Recipes Using Apples
One of the hero ingredients in this dish is apples, so here are some more recipes using the same:
- Instant Pot Baked Brie and Apple Appetizer
- Homemade Apple Pie a la Mode (with No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream!)
- Salted Caramel Popcorn Apples
More Salad Recipes
Looking for more salads to make? Check these recipes out next:
- Fresh & Fruity Rice Salad (Empire Rice Salad) – A Real Crowd-Pleaser!
- Peach Blackberry Salad with Blackberry-Basil Vinaigrette
- Strawberry Feta Salad with Pecans and a Balsamic Glaze
Recipe Tips
- To remove the sharp taste from red onion, place the slices in a small bowl filled with cold water. Soak for 10-15 minutes. Remove from water and pay dry before serving.
How Do I Make Apple Walnut Salad?
Check out the printable recipe card below with full ingredients and instructions. Any demonstration photos do not print out to save your ink.
Apple Walnut Salad with White Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 4 cups arugula rocket, rinsed and patted dry
- 6 oz 170g walnuts, chopped
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tart apples* cut in half, core removed, and cut into thin slices
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ small red onion sliced thin
- 4 oz 100g blue cheese, crumbled
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
For the Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 t. Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- ½ c. extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper on a non-stick baking pat.
- In a small bowl, toss walnuts with honey and cinnamon until evenly coated. Arrange walnuts in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
- Place baking sheet in preheated oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- While the walnuts are toasting, prepare the vinaigrette by combining the white balsamic vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, and garlic in a small glass bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until well combined. Taste and adjust other flavors, as desired. Set aside.
- Add sliced apples to a large salad bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Toss until well coated. Add arugula, seasoned walnuts, red onion slices, and blue cheese to bowl and gently toss to combine.
- Drizzle salad with a little vinaigrette right before serving and toss to combine. Serve immediately with remaining dressing on the side. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.
Make It A Full Meal
You’ve made the salad, but what about the rest of the courses?
Here are additional recipes to make a full meal for a dinner party or special occasion:
- Appetizer: Classic Caprese Skewers with Balsamic Glaze
- Soup: Roasted Fennel & Tomato Soup with Coconut Milk
- Main Dish: 5-Ingredient Herb Mustard Sirloin Steak Recipe
- Side Dish: Grilled Corn Salad with Cherry Tomatoes – A Perfect Side For Grilled Meats
- Beverage: Grapefruit Screwdriver Cocktail
- Dessert: Strawberry & Lemon Summer Layer Cake with Lemon Frosting
There are 500+ Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog for you to enjoy – please feel free to check them out too.