Apple Feta Salad with the works! Do you remember my new favorite fall salad I posted a few weeks ago? Well, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I love that salad so I decided to make it into a main dish (rather than just a side) so I switched it up a little. Now I have TWO favorite fall salad recipes. How do you turn a salad recipe into a main entree? Add a protein, so I went with chicken and bacon of course. I also swapped out pears from that salad for apples and added Feta cheese instead of Parmesan cheese. Feta pairs perfectly with bacon and apples (try this and you’ll see what I mean).
Apple Feta Salad
This is a highly delicious salad that is perfect for busy weeknights. I pan fried the chicken (you can follow the link in the recipe to see how), I cooked the bacon in the microwave (I only do it this way in a hurry, but it works just fine), and toasted the nuts in a skillet so this meal was ready in 30 minutes (and most of that 30 minutes was time it took for the chicken to cook). The simple balsamic vinaigrette even comes together in basically a minute, thanks to that kitchen blender I couldn’t live without. I often store it in a jar in my fridge so with a quick shake it’s ready to pour over a salad and toss to eat.
Fall Flavors and Substitutions
There are unlimited ways to remix this salad for your personal taste, to take advantage of seasonal produce, or to clean out your fridge! Try a few of these ideas:
Swap walnuts for pumpkin seeds Sprinkle pomegranate seeds instead of dried cranberries Add roasted sweet potatoes or roasted butternut squash Feta too salty? Try creamy goat cheese instead Instead of Honeycrisp apples, make this as the original pear salad Make this a kale salad or brussels sprout salad Bulk up the colorful salad with grains like quinoa, wild rice, or farro Add more veggies like red onion, delicata squash, cauliflower, etc. (just roast first!) Mix up your proteins, like sliced steak, shrimp, or tofu
I think I’d be more than happy to have this salad for dinner every single day :). It’s simply delicious! Enjoy!
