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Every year we take a family trip to the apple orchard and every year I leave more inspired than the last. This year in particular I was brimming with ideas for everything from desserts to festive holiday table showstoppers like this Orchard Inspired Holiday Salad.
I love all of the flavors of fall, but apple just happens to be my all-time favorite. This salad is brimming with apple goodness and all of the flavors that pair so well with it like Simply Artisan Reserve Gorgonzola Center Cut Cheese, crispy bacon, thinly shaved fennel, candied pecans, and bitter greens all slathered in a delicious apple cider dressing!
While I am pretty sure this recipe would be welcome at any and all fall functions, it really is quite impressive as part of a Thanksgiving spread…I mean, just look at those Hassleback potatoes, you know how I feel about Hasselbacked veggies!
Today we are partnering with Litehouse Foods to share this recipe that features their handcrafted Simply Artisan Reserve Gorgonzola Center Cut Cheese. These gorgeous slabs of Gorgonzola are vintage aged 100 days and come from a premium selection of the wheel that is cored from the center, where the richest and most developed flavor is found. Trust me, if you love blue cheese look no farther, this one is going to blow your mind!
Just in time for all of your holiday shopping Litehouse Foods has launched their “Be the Center of Attention” sweepstakes where you can enter for a chance to win a $500 VISA gift card!! Each day is a new opportunity to enter, from now through December 5th! So don’t let a day go by without entering for your chance to win!
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To make this salad vegetarian simply sub in our coconut bacon recipe for the bacon called for below!
Ingredients
For the Hasselback potatoes
- 1 pound baby red potatoes, sliced Hasselback style *see recipe notes for how to slice this way*
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the cider dressing
- 1/3 cup Litehouse Honeycrisp Apple Cider
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- kosher salt to taste
For the salad
- 2 heaping handfuls arugula
- 1 small head radicchio, quartered, cored, and leaves roughly torn
- 2 Belgian endive, sliced width wise into rings
- 1/2 cup golden pea shoots, optional
- 1/2 cup thinly shaved fennel
- 1 small Fuji apple, thinly sliced and slices briefly soaked in lemon water to prevent oxidation
- thin slices of Litehouse Foods, Simply Artisan Reserve Gorgonzola Center Cut Cheese, to taste
- 3 slices thick sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled or coconut bacon
- 1/4 cup candied pecans, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon fennel fronds
- Maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Roast the potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 425°. Arrange the Hasselbacked potatoes on a baking sheet, drizzle with half the olive oil and season with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, remove from the oven and brush with the other half of the olive oil and roast for an additional 20 minutes until the slices are fanning apart and crisp on the edges while the potatoes are tender in the middle.
Make the dressing
- In a mason jar with a tight fitting lid combine the Litehouse Honeycrisp Apple Cider, vinegar, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Secure the lid tightly and shake vigorously to combine, set aside.
Build the salad
- In a large serving dish combine the arugula, radicchio, and Belgian endive. Toss to combine. Layer the golden pea shoots, fennel, and Fuji apple slices on top. Sprinkle with the desired amount of Simply Artisan Reserve Gorgonzola Center Cut Cheese then top with crumbled bacon, pecans, and fennel fronds. Season with Maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper then serve with the cider dressing on the side.
Notes
To make hasselback potatoes: Wash and dry the potatoes then place them on a cutting board on their flattest side. Working one at a time place a potato between two chopsticks, this will prevent you from slicing all the way through. With a sharp knife, slice down from top until the knife makes contact with the chopsticks. Repeat the process creating thin slices all the way down the length of the potato. Do the same with the remaining potatoes.
