Frisee and Butter Lettuce Salad with Apples, Walnuts, Goat Cheese, and Apple Cider Vinaigrette
These indulgent-yet-healthful holiday recipes delight your senses as they protect your heart, guard against cancer, boost immunity, balance blood sugar, and more.
HOW IT HEALS: Earlier this year, researchers in Canada tested eight varieties of apples and crowned Red Delicious the king of antioxidants--it boasts higher levels of polyphenols than any other variety tested, and leaving the peels on helps you tap such benefits by a factor of five. Also, choosing shallots over their larger, more bulbous onion siblings boosts this salad's cancer-fighting potential; when researchers at Cornell University compared phytochemical levels in 10 different types of onions, shallots proved among the most effective at quashing liver-cancer cells.
Ingredients
Serves 6
Vinaigrette
1/3 cup unpasteurized apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons honey
3/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/2 cup walnut oil or olive oil
Salad
4 cups torn frisee lettuce leaves or chicory endive leaves
8 cups torn butter lettuce leaves (from 2 heads)
4 Red Delicious apples, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup dried tart Montgomery cherries
1/3 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
3 ounces Humboldt Fog cheese or other goat cheese, sliced
Directions
1. To prepare the vinaigrette, whisk the vinegar, shallots, honey, salt, and pepper in a large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in the oil. Adjust seasonings to taste.
2. Toss the frisee or chicory, butter lettuce, and apples in another large bowl with enough vinaigrette to coat. Season with additional salt and pepper. Mound the salad on plates, then sprinkle with the cherries and walnuts. Lay a slice of cheese atop each salad and serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
Per serving: 362 calories, 64% fat (27 g; 5.6 g saturated), 28% carbohydrate (27 g), 8% protein (7 g),
