This salad is great- with apples, spinach, goat cheese and pecans (toasted with butter, sugar, and curry powder even). But the maple cider vinaigrette is especially amazing. Believe me, you’ll want to drizzle it on everything!

A few confessions: I rarely measure when I make a salad- a little of this, a lot of that. And I usually cut down such recipes drastically to serve just 3 (as dressed salad doesn’t stay fresh long). I probably only made 1/3 of the vinaigrette. If you do have extra, it should last at least a few days in the fridge. And for the pecans, I skipped the oven step and just sauteed them with the butter/sugar/spices in a skillet for several minutes before tossing them on a paper towel to crisp up. The oven would have been better (for a more toasted flavor) but whatever works!

Spinach-Apple Salad with Maple Cider Vinaigrette

INGREDIENTS

10 oz. baby spinach
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
4 oz. crumbled goat cheese
1 apple, thinly sliced
6 oz. sugared-curried pecans (see below) or toasted chopped pecans

Sugared-Curried Pecans:
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. curry powder
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper (cayenne)

Maple Cider Vinaigrette:
1/6 cup cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1 1/2 Tsp. Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp. kosher salt + extra to taste
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/3 cup olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. To prepare pecans: Preheat oven to 350°. Toss pecans in butter. Stir together sugar and next 4 ingredients in a bowl; add pecans, tossing to coat. Spread in a single layer in a nonstick aluminum foil-lined pan. Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until lightly browned and toasted. Cool in pan on a wire rack 20 minutes; separate pecans with a fork.

2. To prepare the vinaigrette: Whisk together cider vinegar and next 4 ingredients. Gradually whisk in oil until well blended.

3. To prepare the salad: Combine spinach and next 3 ingredients in a bowl. Drizzle with desired amount of vinaigrette; toss to coat.

Serves 8.

(Adapted from Southern Living)