Arugula Apple Salad with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette
yields: 6 servings
This arugula apple salad is hearty enough to serve as a main dish or a side! Topped with a roasted shallot & garlic vinaigrette, pancetta, wild rice, and goat cheese, this arugula salad is exciting in every bite!
Ingredients
- Roasted garlic and shallot vinaigrette, recipe below
- 1 cup spiced pecans, recipe below
- 8 oz baby arugula, about 5 cups
- 1 small head radicchio, thinly sliced or torn into small pieces
- 1½ cups cooked wild rice, cooled
- 2 honeycrisp apples, cut off the core and thinly sliced
- 4 oz thinly sliced pancetta, cooked until crisp and broken into 1-inch pieces
- 5 oz goat cheese, crumbled
Spiced Pecans
- 1 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
Roasted garlic and shallot vinaigrette
- 4 large cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 large shallot, halved
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prepare all your ingredients: Cook wild rice, crisp pancetta, slice radiccio, and crumble goat cheese.
- Meanwhile, prepare the vinaigrette. Preheat oven to 400°F. Wrap the garlic cloves and shallot in a foil pouch and roast for 30-35 minutes until shallot and garlic are super soft when pierced with a fork. Remove from foil and finely mince garlic and shallot. You should have about 1½ teaspoons mashed roasted garlic and 1 tablespoon mashed roasted shallot. Add them to a small mixing bowl with remaining dressing ingredients and whisk until smooth and combined. Set aside.
- While the garlic roasts, make the spiced pecans. Melt the butter, sugar, and maple syrup in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the nuts and spices, tossing to combine. Cook for 2 more minutes to cook the sugars, then transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet to cool completely. Once cool, break the pieces apart with your hands.
- Toss the arugula and radicchio with wild rice and half of the vinaigrette. Top with apples, crumbled goat cheese, spiced pecans, and pancetta. Just before serving, drizzle with remaining vinaigrette.
