This salad with apple and craisins is so satisfying. It has a sweetness from the apple, tartness from the craisins, sweetness from the dressing, saltiness from the blue cheese, and richness from the sunflower seeds.

You can grill your own chicken or use store-bought grilled or whole-roasted chicken to add to this salad for some protein.

What apples should you use in cooking?

Depends on what flavor profile you are trying to achieve. Also depends on the texture you want.

Granny smiths (sour & crisp): good for baking because they hold up when cooked and give a tart sourness to contrast in desserts; also great for salads because of their tart flavor

Honeycrisp (sweet and sour and crisp): great for serving fresh/raw in salads because of their crisp texture, juiciness, and strong sweet and tart flavor. Also great for cooking because of their strong flavor profile.

Fuji (sweet and crisp): great for serving fresh/raw because of their crisp texture and juiciness. Fuji apples have a milder flavor profile, so they would not hold up as much in desserts.

For other salad ideas, check out my delicious Healthy Caesar Salad.

Using soft cheeses in salads

Soft cheeses are very creamy and delicate. Make sure you toss your salad with dressing first. And then add in pieces of your soft cheese. Otherwise, the cheese will smear into your salad and dressing.

How to spice up a salad

Spice up your salads with a variety of:

• cheese (feta, brie, blue cheese)
• fruit (apple, peach, pear, raisins, dried cranberries)
• nuts (sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts)
• protein (chicken, shrimp, steak)
• vinegars/acid (Champagne, balsamic, citrus, red wine, mulberry, lemon juice, mustard)

That way, you won’t get bored as easily.

Price Comparison

How much did this salad with apple and craisins set me back? This is how much I spent on the ingredients: mixed greens ($1), blue cheese ($.50), mulberry vinegar ($.50), honey ($.50), walnuts ($.50), apple ($.75).

Restaurant ($10-13) vs. Home-made ($1.88)

There is a steep mark-up when you buy salad from a restaurant vs. making it at home. It’s definitely more economical to make salad at home. Be a smart shopper and consumer.

Make your salads at home if you can and splurge on eating out for items that have less of a mark-up or are more difficult to make at home. With salads, it is easy because you can get pre-washed and pre-bagged mixed salad greens and have dinner ready in a jiffy.

Print

Mixed Green Salad with Apple, Crasisins, and Blue Cheese

A refreshing salad with sweet apple, tangy cranberries, and funky blue cheese.

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Keyword mixed green salad, salad with apple, salad with blue cheese

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 3 cups mixed green salad
• 1 honeycrisp apple cored and sliced
• 1/4 cup blue cheese
• 1/4 cup craisins
• 2 tbsps sunflower seeds toasted

Mulberry dressing

• 1 tbsp mulberry vinegar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

• Prepare apples by removing their cores and cutting them into thin slices.
• Prepare dressing by mixing together mulberry vinegar, salt, honey, lemon juice, and olive oil.
• Gently toss mixed greens with apples, craisins, sunflower seeds, and dressing. Then gently sprinkle with blue cheese and toss gently until evenly dispersed in salad.

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