This simple fall arugula and apple salad is the perfect addition to your fall menu planning. Nutty manchego and sweet cherries paired with spicy arugula come together to create a salad that will leave you craving for more.
Ok folks, I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve seen an arugula salad but, trust me, this will be one of your top five. The combination of sweet cherries and nutty manchego cheese is a winner!
This salad was inspired by one that I had at a wonderful tapas restaurant in downtown Asheville, NC. Asheville is the home of my husband’s extended family.
We have made many trips down there in the last 15 years. Each time, we’ve had at least half dozen homes to visit and each cousin or aunt or uncle insists we have a homemade meal with them.
Over the past few years, I started noticing that Asheville always seems to be a popping up as a featured tourist (and culinary) destination in travel and airline magazines. I started to wonder why in our many trips to Asheville, we have never explored the downtown or surrounding areas. The truth was that between visiting all the family, we never had time to think about it.
When we decided to head down to Asheville for a full view of the solar eclipse, we informed the family that we would be dining out and exploring the town! (We dragged them along of course!) It is actually a very cute downtown and if you do have time it’s worth exploring, especially for the foodies.
At Zambra, a farm to table tapas and wine bar, our cousin ordered the arugula salad and told us it was so good that she was not going to share, and that we should order our own! While I teased her about it, she was right. I ordered my own too and ate the whole thing because it was so damn good!
While my version is not exactly the same, the basic ingredients that I thought really made the salad are still there. I added some carrot and replaced their candied pecans with walnuts to tone down the sweetness of the salad. Their version also did not have apples, but I think it gives the salad a nice crunchy texture.
I don’t think I ever realized how much I liked manchego cheese. I think it’s going to be my new favorite ingredient!
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Fall Arugula and Apple Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil
- 3 tablespoons Sherry Wine Vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Honey
- 1/2 cup Dried Cherries
- 5 ounces Baby Arugula
- 2 Apple quartered, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 large Carrot grated
- 1/3 cup Walnuts
- 1/2 cup Manchego Cheese shredded
Instructions
- Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, salt and honey. Add the dried cherries and set aside the dressing.
- In a skillet over medium heat, toast the walnuts for about 1-2 minutes. Stir constantly to avoid burning them. Remove the walnuts from the hot pan and set aside.
- Toss the arugula, apples and carrots together in a large bowl.
- Next add the dressing and mix.
- Mix in the walnuts and manchego cheese.
Notes
- Add the dressing to the salad according to your taste. You might not want to use all of it but be sure you get enough of those cherries in it!