Chopped salads are my life. I crave them 95% of the time and I have a salad every single week day for lunch, but just on the weekends or special occasions I make richer salads like this one.
This salad, which is very similar to my favourite one from Outback Steakhouse, is a blend of fresh flavours (mixed greens with shredded carrots, red cabbage, green onions, sweet candied pecans, tossed with Blue Cheese vinaigrette and topped with Blue Cheese crumbles). You will absolutely fall in love with this recipe.
The amazing mix of the sweet candied pecans and the smooth creamy strong taste of the blue cheese are very important because the blue cheese is such a strong part of the flavour and the candied pecans the sweetness one. If you skimp on those, you’ll be detracting from the entire salad.
Ingredients
Caramelized Pecans
- 1/2 cup Pecan - (sliced-lengthwise)
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tbsp Brown sugar
- 1.5 tsp Butter - melted or Margarine
Blue Cheese vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup Olive oil - extra virgin
- 2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp Sour cream
- 1 tbsp Honey - (use 2 if you like it a bit sweeter)
- 1 tbsp Basil - (chopped fresh)
- Salt - (optional - to taste)
- Black pepper - (optional - freshly Ground- to taste) or Paprika
- 1/4 cup Blue cheese - (crumbled)
Salad
- 3 cups Romain lettuce - (chopped) or bibb lettuce or butter lettuce
- 3 cups Red leaf lettuce - (chopped)
- 3 cups Iceberg lettuce - (chopped)
- 3 cups Red cabbage - (chopped)
- 1 cup Carrot - (shredded)
- Green onion - (chopped)
Toppings
- 1 cup Fried noodle - (pieces)
- 1/2 cup Blue cheese - (crumbled)
Instacart is available in the US only at the moment.
Instructions
Caramelized Pecans*
- Preheat oven to 190C (375F).
- Slice each pecan half into at least two lengthwise pieces.
- Mix the cinnamon and Dark Brown Sugar.
- Toss the pecans with the melted butter, then with the cinnamon and sugar mixture, tossing well to make sure that the pecans are coated evenly.
- Put the coated pecans on a Parchment Paper in a Shallow Baking Pan and bake for 5 to 8 minutes, until sugar is caramelized.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and slide the pecans off of the parchment to cool, and set aside.
Blue Cheese vinaigrette
- In a small bowl, Whisk Apple Cider Vinegar, Balsamic Vinegar, Dijon Mustard, sour cream and Honey.
- Then add the Extra Virgin Olive Oil slowly and Whisk vigorously until smooth.
- Combine the chopped basil and Blue Cheese crumbles.
- If desired, season with salt and black pepper (or Paprika). Whisk until very well blended.
Salad
- Chop all of the lettuce and cabbage into smallish bite-sized pieces; and rinse them with cool water. Use a Salad Spinner to dry them.
- Slice the green onion and shred the carrots with a Food Processor.
- Place the chopped lettuce, cabbage and shredded carrots into a Large Mixing Bowl (large enough to allow you to toss the salad in).
- **Add the vinaigrette and toss the salad thoroughly to coat with the dressing.
- Sprinkle with the chopped green onion, ***Fried Noodles, crumbled blue cheese.
- Break the cooled caramelized pecan slices apart and sprinkle them over the salad and serve right away.
Notes
instead of making them from scratch,, As well as the Blue Cheese Dressing
. But those homemade ones are delicious and it's worth the effort.
**If taking this to a picnic or potluck, make sure you mix the dressing and topping there or just before you go or the lettuces will get a bit limp after a couple of hours - it'll still taste good, though.
***If you don’t find ready Fried noodle pieces you can break 120 g (4 ounces) of angel hair pasta into small, 5cm/2 inch pieces. Cook until al dente. Heat oil in a skillet and fry drained pasta until crispy. Drain on paper towel and cool.Disclosure: “As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Purchases made by using these links don’t cost any extra and provides Fast2eat with a few pennies to keep the lights on.”
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.
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