Harvest Apple Salad

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Harvest Apple Salad is a delicious mix of sweet and savory flavors from fresh seasonal apples to peppery arugula. It all comes together with a homemade warm poppyseed dressing.

October seems to be the month that I look forward to all year long. LM Montgomery’s classic heroine Anne Shirley is often quoted this time of year. In Anne of Green Gables, she says, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” I couldn’t agree more.

I’m practically in heaven right now with cool autumnal breezes and little hints of color-changing leaves. I can’t wait to find the time to head down to the Raleigh State Farmer’s Market for this year’s apple haul. Every year I’m always reminded by how exceptional these fresh farm apples are. With every bite of those gorgeous apples, I often wonder how I survive off the store-bought ones for the rest of the year. They are so unbelievably delicious!

I love turning my apple haul into pies, cobblers, and crisps. It’s also fun using them in healthier recipes like salads and homemade apple sauce. I decided to go with the healthier route with this week’s recipe.

This Harvest Apple Salad kind of came together by accident. I was just trying to use up some leftover items in my fridge during lunch one day. I was pleasantly surprised with the end result and I knew I just had to share it with you!

I love the peppery flavor of arugula. It’s such a wonderful contrast to sweet apples. Apples are a staple in my house along with beets, carrots, eggs, and pecans. To give the salad a little more character I decided to add some nice crispy bacon and New Zealand grass–fed cheddar from Trader Joe’s.

I rounded everything out nicely with a warm poppy seed dressing that is just to die for! I drew my inspiration from the dressing they use for spinach salads at our favorite local steakhouse, Angus Barn. It really does take this salad to the next level and is totally worth the extra work.

Of course, this salad is completely customizable to your tastes. I didn’t add chicken this time but it is good in this salad. Smoked chicken is particularly good if you have any leftover. I like to order Publix’s smokehouse chicken dinners every now and then and I love using the leftover chicken for this.

This salad is great for a quiet evening in and goes well with some warm multi-grain bread on the side! I hope you enjoy this Harvest Apple Salad as much as we do!

If you know of anyone who would love this salad, please share this post with all your friends and family. Just click on the social media icons below! Have a beautiful fall weekend and enjoy!