Chopped Apple Salad with Toasted Walnuts, Blue Cheese & Pomegranate Vinaigrette

This recipe is in my Bar American Bobby Flay cookbook that I made the chicken cutlets from.This is a great cook book. I highly recommend it. I was introduced to this recipe by my friend Katie who made this for a get together at her house. By get together, I mean a medium came over that talks to dead people came over to do readings for Katie and her friends. Great times. Katie said this salad was a big hit the last time she made it so she wanted to make it again.


First off, this salad is amazing and might I add easy to put together. We made it with feta since Katie's sister does not like blue cheese, but try it with whatever crumbly cheese you have on hand. This recipe uses pomegranate molasses, which may be my new favorite condiment. Come to think of it, it would have been yummy with those chicken cutlets I made a few weeks ago. We made the molasses from scratch, which is actually way easier than you think. You literally pour 100% pomegranate juice with sugar and let it simmer for a little over an hour. You don't even have to stir it very often. Even better, it stays for a really long time so make it once and use it forever!You can buy pomegranate molasses at the market, but ti may be hard to find. When in doubt, make it yourself!


This salad would be perfect for dinner parties or a potluck. This would even be a perfect weeknight meal with some grilled chicken on top. Enjoy!

Mmmm Molasses

Home Made Pomegranate Molasses 


Ingredients

• 3 cups pomegranate juice(if there is added sugar in your juice, reduce the sugar called for in this recipe)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup sugar

 Directions

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• Combine all ingredients.
• Simmer and reduce until there is only 1 cup of liquid remaining. It would be helpful to boil it for a few minutes to thicken it up some.
• Chill.

Chopped Apple Salad with Toasted Walnuts, Blue Cheese & Pomegranate Vinaigrette Serves: 8

Pomegranate Vinaigrette
¼ cup pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey, or more to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together the pomegranate molasses, vinegar, mustard, honey and salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until emulsified. Vinaigrette can be stored, covered tightly, in the refrigerator for 2 days.

Salad

6 apples (Granny Smith, Gala, Fuji) any or a combination of all, skin left on, core removed and cut into ½-inch dice
2 cups baby spinach
2 heads endive, thinly sliced
1 ½ cups toasted coarsely chopped walnuts
¾ pound blue cheese, crumbled
Pomegranate Vinaigrette (recipe above)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the apples, spinach, endive, walnuts and blue cheese in a large bowl. Add the vinaigrette and toss to coat, season with salt and pepper to taste.