Summer Berry Cherry Salad with Ham, Salted Caramel Walnuts and Maple Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Salted Caramel Walnuts
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt
Maple Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- Pinch of salt
Salad
- 6 cups little gem leaves or spring greens
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 8 ounces sliced deli ham (I like Black Forest but anything works!)
- 8 ounces(about 2 cups) sliced strawberries
- 8 ounces (about 2 cups) spitted, halved cherries
- 4 ounces(about 1 cup) blue cheese, crumbled
- 1 large Haas avocado, cubed
- 1/2 English cucumber, halved vertically then sliced into half moons
- 1/2 cup small fresh mint leaves
Substitutions
- Walnuts—> absolutely any nut you have. Pecans would be particularly good!
- Maple syrup—> brown sugar.
- Butter—> omit, they’ll still candy without it.
- Flaky salt—> kosher.
- Apple cider vinegar—> any vinegar! Balsamic would be great here.
- EVOO—> plain olive oil or any neutral flavored oil.
- Dijon mustard—> this is important to thickening your dressing. If you don’t have it, swap in tahini or 1 egg yolk, but whisk it, don’t just shake it!
- Salad greens—> anything tender and crisp is perfect here. Kale is a little too tough for the vibe we’re going for here.
- Ham—> prosciutto, chicken, turkey, grilled shrimp. Or obviously feel free to omit to make this a side salad to a meat entree!
- Strawberries/cherries—> any summery and delish fruit. Peaches! Apricots! Blueberries! etc.
- Blue cheese—> goat cheese, feta.
- Avocado—> omit.
- Cucumber—> fennel, thinly sliced celery, thinly sliced carrots, raw corn kernels. Anything crunchy and fresh.
- Mint leaves—> basil or parsley.
Instructions
To make the nuts:
- Place 1 cup walnuts, 1/4 cup maple syrup, and 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet and warm over medium heat.
- Stir often, until the caramel coating has thickened and is coating the nuts, 4 to 7 minutes.
- Stir in 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt, then transfer the nuts to a piece of parchment paper in a single layer and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt over top. To be nice and crunchy (with no chewy bite) the nuts need to cool for at least a full hour, preferably overnight, uncovered. You can speed up this process by throwing them in the freezer!
- Break the nuts apart and use as desired.
- To make the vinaigrette: add all ingredients to a jar and shake vigorously to combine. You can also whisk everything in a bowl, but if you do it in a jar you can instantly store all leftovers without getting another dish dirty!
To build the salad:
- Place 6 cups lettuce in a large bowl or shallow platter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to season the leaves. Seasoning your greens is crucial to a delicious salad!
- Roll up 6 ounces of ham slices and slice it into 1/4-inch thick “rolls” to make it look like a fun retro Cobb salad. Or just chop it up and throw it in there.
- Add the Salted Caramel Walnuts, 2 cups chopped strawberries, 2 cups chopped cherries, 1 cup crumbled blue cheese, 1 chopped avocado, 1/2 of an English cucumber, chopped up, and 1/2 cup loosely packed mint leaves to the bowl and toss gently to combine.
- Pour in 1/4 cup Maple Vinaigrette and toss to coat all ingredients. Add more dressing as needed until your desired level of dressed-ness (hmmm?) is achieved.
Notes
Some packages of ham come in 6 ounce increments, some in 8 ounces. The exact amount isn’t important. Or, grab a half pound (8 ounces) from the deli, freshly sliced! Be sure to ask them to cut it thickly if you want to be able to roll it up and slice up, but that isn’t important.