Santa Barbara Salad

Salad greens are topped with apples, blue cheese, and sugared pecans, and drizzled with oil and vinegar dressing sweetened with maple syrup.

Ingredients:

Salad:

1 bag baby salad greens

3/4 cup pecans

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

2 apples

1/2 lemon

Dressing:

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil1/8 cup (2 tbsp) maple syrup

Directions:

Melt butter over medium heat in a nonstick pan. Add sugar and stir to combine. Watch closely as sugar cooks, and remove it from heat as soon as it begins to brown. Immediately add maple syrup and pecans to sugar mixture and stir to coat. Spread pecans out on a sheet of wax paper to cool. Core apples and cut them into slices. Place apple slices in a bowl filled with cool water and juice of half a lemon to prevent darkening. In a small bowl, combine 1/8 cup maple syrup with 1/4 cup white wine vinegar. Mix well with a whisk. Add salt and pepper to taste. Slowly stream in 1/2 cup olive oil while whisking vigorously. Arrange greens on plates. Place apple slices on greens. Top with crumbled blue cheese. Sprinkle on sugared pecans. Drizzle with dressing.

Notes:

Number of servings: 4-6

Submitted By: jamie.maholchic@yahoo.com