Apple, Beet & Fennel Salad with Balsamic Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

 This is one of those unusual dishes that turned out to be fantastic. It's quite colorful and almost surreal looking. This came about as I had an extra fennel left over from my Butternut Squash and Fennel Lasagna and a beet that I was going to use in another recipe but decided against it. A google search of fennel and beet brought me to a few various recipes, some of which included my favorite apple, the Fuji. I came up with my own version using this wonderful dressing. To be honest, I don't really care for beets much but trying to work them into my lifestyle. This salad is perfect! The beets and all the flavors come together beautifully making it a go to salad that can give me the excellent beet nutrition that I'm looking to add to my meal rotation every now and then.

You could also use other colored beets too. I experimented with a yellow one and it was just as colorful and tasty as well. The maple pecans really add a nice touch. I can't imagine not making this salad without all of these ingredients as they each add their own special touch but you can adjust to suit your flavor palate. I'm looking forward to more of this in the future using some of the other colored beets again as well...really delicious!

Apple, Beet & Fennel Salad w/ Balsamic Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

Ingredients

Salad

• 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 red beet (uncooked), peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced or diced...a few fronds reserved for garnish
• 1 Fuji apple, or hard crisp apple or pear of choice, cored and diced
• handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped
• arugula or spinach, optional

Balsamic Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1 heaping teaspoon Dijon or stone ground mustard
• salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix nuts with 1/4 cup maple syrup and place in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cook for about 10 minutes, set aside to cool. Maple will be caramelized on the nuts and your home will be smelling oh so good at this point !

Prepare your vegetables, fruit and herbs, combine them in a large bowl or dish of choice. Place all vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl, combine until blended adding salt and pepper to taste. Add nuts (reserve a few for garnish) and dressing to prepared mix and combine.

Serve on a small bed of arugula or spinach, garnish with nuts and a few fennel fronds.

Notes:

You may like to grate your apple and fennel. I tried it myself but didn't care for it as I prefer to have some chunkiness to my salad.

If using a lighter color beet, you may consider using apple cider vinegar in place of the balsamic so the dark color of the balsamic doesn't discolor your lighter colored beets.

Enjoy the flavor sensation !

Detox Salad + Ginger Lime Cardamom Dressing

It's detox time! After a weekend of trials with the last recipe Pizza Pie + Balsamic Tomato Sauce + Roasted Vegetables, it was time for some fresh, detoxifying foods. This lovely salad is inspired by the energizing detox salad from Mildreds. I was able to put this together rather simply using most of the ingredients listed while adding my own flair with a few ingredients like cardamom. I've had cardamom on hand and have wanted to use it for a while now. It can be an optional ingredient in the dressing if you don't have it but it is a wonderful addition that I think you'll love if you have it on hand. This salad came out truly wonderful and I'm so pleased to share it with you. I can literally make a large batch of this salad and eat it all day long, for a few days on end to boot. It's what's for dinner, and lunch tomorrow! The flavors pair and mingle well for my taste, and I think those of you who love detox salads will definitely find this combination pleasing on many levels. It has a bit of sweetness from the raisins, carrots and apple, a little earthiness from the beets, a slight sour from the lime juice, and some zest from the ginger and cardamom. Add to that how colorful it is, healthy, nutritious, easy to make and so fresh...it's a detox keeper!

I love being able to incorporate beets into my diet. They are one of those foods that I don't eat often enough but this salad is a perfect place to use up this highly beneficial vegetable. Here we can use the beets and the greens...a win all around! If you can't find the beets with their greens, use chopped spinach, dandelion greens, even lacinato kale (aka: dinosaur or Tuscan kale) would be great. As for the beets, feel free to use golden beets instead. Red beets can be a bit messy. For this reason I decided to chop my beets instead of grating them, which tends to really leave a red wet mess. But of course, feel free to grate your beets if you rather. It will give extra moisture to your salad if you do. Even grating the apple will release a lot of moisture adding extra juices as well (at least for Fuji apples). Do what feels best to you!

After I started eating, I remembered that the inspired recipe had an option for tofu and thought I'd give it a try. Let me say that it did not disappoint! Believe it or not the tofu was a great addition. I used an extra firm organic tofu and the texture blended right in and added a good dose of protein. Those who are familiar with tofu know that tofu it is a blank slate in terms of flavor and will take on whatever flavors it comes into contact with. Once mixed in it was great. Am I strange to love this? Oh well...I do! :) Tofu is optional but for those who are looking to make a complete meal I recommend adding a serving.

Detox Salad + Ginger Lime Cardamom Dressing

Ingredients

• 1 large beet with greens, beet julienned or grated and greens julienned
• 1 large apple, cored and diced
• 2 medium carrots, grated
• 1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup organic raisins or golden raisins
• a few tablespoons hemp hearts or sesame seeds, to serve 
• organic tofu, cubed (optional)

Ginger Lime Dressing

• 3 - 4 tablespoons lime juice (lemon is fine too)
• 1 inch knob of ginger, finely grated (i used a microplane)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom, or to taste
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup or coconut nectar, optional

In a small bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients. Set aside to let the flavors mellow and come together. Check dressing for flavor before serving. 

Prepare your salad ingredients and use 3 to 4 large beet leaves (about 1 cup lightly packed) and place all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour dressing over the salad ingredients, toss to coat. (You can also make this ahead of time and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.)

Serve topped with a good sprinkle of hemp hearts or sesame seeds, and some extra raisins if you like as they add a nice sweetness.  

Serves 2 large portions or 4 -6 small portions. 

Notes:

If you don't find beets with the greens, use spinach, dandelion greens or lacinato kale instead. Use golden beets in place of red beets to keep the color mess to a minimum. 

The cardamom can be optional. If you don't use it often, there is no need to buy this just for the salad dressing although it is delicious and you may find other uses for it either here soon, or elsewhere. If you don't have it, you will still have a great dressing.

This salad tastes better the longer your able to let it set and let the flavors mingle. This is a great salad to make in advance and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Detox away! 

Enjoy...