This Autumn Salad of chicory, apple, celery, walnuts & sourdough contains everything I like to see in a salad for this time of year – Strong earthy flavours with warming chunks of toasted sourdough bread and salty stilton. A sharp apple twang from the cider vinegar balances the bitter and peppery leaves.
Here’s what you’ll need
- 1 apple – sliced
- 1 head of chicory
- 1 stick celery – sliced
- Peppery salad leaves – rocket, mustard etc
- 1 thick slice of stale sourdough bread – torn into chunks
- Walnut pieces
- 1tbsp of raisins
- 100g Stilton broken into chunks.
For the dressing
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon clear honey
- 1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
- A splash of cider vinegar
- A squeeze of lemon
- Salt & black pepper.
Preheat your oven to 200c. Place the torn bread pieces onto a tray and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes and then add a handful of walnuts to the tray and bake for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and scatter half the stilton over the warm bread to allow it to melt a little.
Make the dressing – add all the dressing ingredients together in a jar or storage container – anything that can contain liquid with a lid will do. Shake for 10 seconds to form a smooth, glossy dressing. Check the seasoning – adjust as required.
If you want to, you can soak the raisins in boiling water for 10 minutes before serving to allow them to plump up.
Build the salad – arrange the chicory and celery in a bowl. Sprinkle over the raisins and remaining stilton. Now add the sliced apple and salad leaves and finish with the bread and walnuts.
Drizzle over the dressing.
October 20, 2012, 7:33 pm
Hi John,
Tried this myself but with pears not apples. Absolutely great and shows what you can do without relying on meat. Best so far I think.
Best,
Simon.