When the temps cool down and you think there's nothing fresh for a salad, think again! This Fall Farmers' Market Salad is the perfect dish to stay healthy into the fall and winter with bright, fresh, crisp and crunchy fall and winter produce that hit their peak in the cooler months! Shall we?
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This recipe for Fall Farmers Market Salad is:
- gluten-free
- vegetarian, vegan adaptable
- low carb
- anti-inflammatory
- anti-oxidant rich
What Ingredients You Need for Fall Farmers' Market Salad
- red cabbage
- romaine lettuce
- pomegranate
- persimmon
- carrots
- apple
- pepitas
- red onion
- cheese
- Maple Mustard Dressing
Instructions for How to Make Fall Farmers' Market Salad
The hardest step in making this salad is deciding which dressing to drizzle over everything, so I've already done it for you: Maple Mustard Dressing. The rest is easy:
- Place all the ingredients in a salad bowl or platter with high sides
- Drizzle with dressing.
- Enjoy!
Ingredients Notes and Resources
- Red Cabbage is available year round, but is freshest when it's in season which is fall. Cabbage is a member of the Brassica family, so if you're trying to get more vegetables from the broccoli/brussels/cabbage family, you can do it with red cabbage!
- Romaine Lettuce.
- Pomegranate. Buy whole pomegranates and pull the seeds yourself for the best flavor and quality. It's kind of tedious, but you can also think of it as meditative. Buying pomegranate seeds in plastic containers is a LAST resort. In fact, if you think you have to buy them this way, don't. And substitute with dried cranberries or other small tart fruit or berry. You wuss.
- Persimmon. For salads, I like persimmons that are firm/crisp rather than soft/buttery. All the varieties of the round, tan-colored Asian pears, Comice pears, and Bosc pears have the best texture for a salad. Anjou pears, both red and green, are a good choice, too.
- carrots
- apple
- pepitas
- Red Onion. I use red onion for the added health-promoting benefit of the anthocyanins of the red/purple color. However, red onions are slightly stronger in flavor than other onions, so soak the slices in ice water for 10 minutes to soften their bite.
- Cheese: Any salty, funky cheese is great to balance the other flavors and textures in this salad. The cheese pictured in these photos is an aged sheep's milk cheese similar to Spanish manchego. I have also made this salad with feta, goat cheese, and a mild blue cheese. Pears, walnuts and blue cheese is a common flavor combination.
- Maple Mustard Dressing
All other fresh herbs and produce from either the Santa Monica Farmers' Market on Wednesday, or Whole Foods Market.
Substitutions and Dietary Considerations
This Fall Farmers Market Salad is endlessly flexible. The key to making substitutions is to always keep the taste spectrum in balance. You want to hit sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and if you know you know, umami, all in one dish.
- Red Cabbage. If arugula is a little too peppery for your taste, try a different flavor-forward leafy green vegetable. Baby spinach and baby kale are both great, generally less intensely flavored substitutes. Radicchio, the purple-red head that looks like a small purple cabbage, has a slightly bitter flavor. The only leafy green I would recommend against is actual kale, which is just too tough to pair with tender pears, no matter how much you massage the kale.
- Romaine Lettuce.
- Pomegranate. Pomegranate provides an additional pop of sweetness to balance the peppery arugula, but with subtle tartness. If you'd like to substitute, try dried cranberries or dried tart cherries.
- persimmon
- carrots
- apple
- Pepitas. Substitute with chopped toasted almonds, roasted, salted pistachios, pecans, or hazelnuts. All of these nuts offer health-promoting benefits in terms of fiber, healthy fats, and protein. For a non-nut option, toasted pepitas work perfectly.
- Red Onions. If red onions are too intense, try shallots, which are in the same color family, but milder in flavor. Obviously, you can leave them out.
- Cheese. Any funky, salty cheese will substitute well for the manchego. A very approachable cheese to substitute here is either goat chèvre or feta, or shaved parmesan or pecorino. Because pears are so sweet, you will also see them paired with blue cheese in other salads, on pizza, and as a cheese course. If you already have something in your refrigerator, just use that!
Dietary Considerations
As presented, this Salad is gluten-free, vegetarian, and refined sugar-free. For additional dietary considerations:
Vegan. Cheese is the only ingredient that is not 100% plant-based. To make the salad suitable for vegans, substitute with a plant-based cheese or leave it out. This plant-based feta is a solid choice (coconut oil-based).
Dairy-free. As above, the cheese is the only ingredient that is dairy. Substitute with a plant-based version.
Sugar-free. The salad itself is sugar-free, though pomegranate, persimmon, and apple have natural fruit sugars. Maple Mustard Dressing has maple syrup as a sweetener, which is still considered a sugar. To make the salad completely sugar free, skip the dressing and toss it with a basic vinaigrette of apple cider or red wine vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, and salt.
Tools and Equipment
You don't technically need any special equipment to make this Salad. You can simply use a large knife and cutting board to chop all vegetables. However, that doesn't mean there are a couple of gadgets and tools that might make this salad even easier to throw together than it already is.
- Salad spinner - this has saved my sanity because wet, soggy greens are the worst. And in the case of arugula, the drier the greens, the better.
- Chef's knife - my daily workhorse knife
- Cutting board - large and sturdy so you have enough surface area for all the fluffy greens, and doesn't move around on the countertop
- Japanese-style mandoline - to make lightning fast work of slicing the onions. You don't need it for the pears though. When you start eating a LOT of vegetables, this will be a lifesaver.
- Fruit and vegetable wash
For the Maple Mustard dressing, these tools are also helpful
- BlendJet cordless personal blender - I don't know how I survived my salad days without this
- 2-ounce (4 tablespoons) liquid measuring cup
- Mini whisk
- Wide-mouth mason jars and air-tight screw-on lids
Variations and Modifications
- Add cooked quinoa to give the salad a plant-based protein boost!
- Add 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast to make it a hearty main dish salad
FAQ
Anjou, Asian, Bartlett, Bosc, and Comice pears are all great pear varieties for salad because of they are firm when ripe. Asian pears go even a little further and are crisp/crunchy.
Like avocado and apples, pears oxidize when cut, and some varieties more than others. To keep them from turning brown too quickly, rub the cut surfaces with lemon juice.
You can prep most of the components for this salad—toasted walnuts, sliced cheese, sliced onions—in advance, store them separately, and assemble just before serving. However, the arugula and pears should be prepped just before serving to keep them at peak quality. Maple Mustard Dressing is highly recommended as an advance prep!
More Fall Salads You Must Try
I wasn't kidding when I said "think again!" if you thought there was nothing fresh in the fall/winter. In addition to this Arugula Pear Salad, try:
- Fall Apple Harvest Salad with Walnuts, Feta and Dried Cherries
- Arugula Pear Salad
- Citrus Salad with Avocado and Pistachios
- Kale Slaw / Salad with Apple Cider Dressing
- Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Pecorino and Capers
- Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Roasted Pears
Fall Farmers Market Chopped Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups baby kale or other slightly bitter greens like wild arugula
- 2 cups little gem lettuce leaves or other crisp lettuce like chopped Romaine lettuce
- 2 cups radicchio leaves torn into bite-size pieces
- Maple Citrus Vinaigrette see below
- 1 small butternut squash about 1½ pounds, peeled, sliced, and roasted
- 2 carrots thinly sliced lengthwise into ribbons
- 1 tart green apple cored and thinly sliced
- 2 persimmons thinly sliced
- ½ cup toasted walnuts
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
- ½ cup pickled red onions
- ¾ cup feta cheese crumbled
- optional ingredients to include if available at the Farmers' Markets: thinly sliced watermelon radish daikon, or other type of radishes, roasted sliced sweet potatoes, avocados (if still available), late-season figs, fresh or dried cranberries
Instructions
- In a large bowl, toss baby kale, little gem lettuces, and radicchio leaves with ¼ of the Maple Citrus Vinaigrette. Place dressed greens in large salad serving bowl or platter.
- Arrange the roasted butternut squash, carrot ribbons, green apple slices, persimmon slices, and any other optional salad ingredients you might be using artfully around the greens on the serving platter. Sprinkle the salad with toasted walnuts, pomegranate seeds, pickled red onions, and crumbled feta cheese.
- Serve with additional Maple Citrus Vinaigrette alongside, warm crusty grilled bread with soft salty butter, and of course, iced tea.
MAPLE CITRUS VINAIGRETTE {recipe}
makes about 1½ cups
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
¼ teaspoon each of finely grated lemon and orange zest
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
DIRECTIONS
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together orange juice, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, orange and lemon zests, and salt. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Season with additional salt as necessary.
ozfoodhunter says
What a fabulous idea as a dish yummy, really a bowl of full healthy.
Leslie Ross Lentz says
That is the most beautiful salad I have ever seen. The flavors resonate purely to Fall. I will make this.
Riddhima Nair says
What a fabulous dish. It looks yummy and tasty .Thanks for the recipe.
priyanka dave says
That is the most beautiful salad I have ever seen.