Festive Leafy Grape Salad
This is a fabulous green salad with a pleasing texture, lovely savoury and sweet tones and a wonderful crunch. It is an easy salad that looks festive and will make a perfect starter for a special occasion.
Equipment
- 1 large flat salad plate
Ingredients
- 150 g mixed-leaf salad use soft colourful lettuce, arugula and baby spinach leaves
- 14-16 grapes
- 40 g strong creamy cheese (Gorgonzola or Goat cheese) crumbled
- 40 g aged gouda cut into small cubes
- 1/3 cup pomegranate seeds
- 1/3 cup dried apricot cut into small pieces
For the caramelised walnuts
- 1/2 cup walnuts halved
- 2-3 tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons water
For the dressing
- 1 -1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar apple cider or white balsamic work well
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash your salad leaves well and pat them dry with a paper towel. Remove the stalks from the grapes, then wash and dry them too.Cut the dried apricot into smaller pieces. Collect the seeds from the pomegranate.Crumble the soft cheese and cut the hard cheese into small pieces.
- In a saucepan, melt the sugar. Stir continuously until the sugar changes colour and turns into caramel. Add 1-2 teaspoons of warm water to make the caramel thinner. Drop the walnuts in the caramel and stir to coat them in the caramel. Remove from the heat, take the walnuts out and let them cool.
- Assemble the salad by laying the green salad leaves first. Sprinkle the rest of the ingredients on top.
- Make the dressing by adding small amounts of the olive oil to the vinegar and stirring continuously until integrated. Add salt to taste and stir to combine. Pour the ready dressing over the salad and stir to coat all ingredients.