Fall Harvest Salad: Beautiful in-season fruits atop a bed of greens, finished with candied pecans, Swiss cheese, & tangy sweet poppy seed dressing. This Fall Harvest Fruit Salad recipe is the perfect and delicious flavor & textures combination.
Fall Harvest Fruit Salad
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Full recipe and instructions can be found toward the bottom of this post.
Fall Harvest fruit salad; fresh and lovely green romaine lettuce shredded to bite size pieces then thrown together with tart and chewy dried cherries, crisp and refreshing honey crisp apples, soft and sweet Anjou pears, crunchy candies pecans, and soft and subtle Swiss cheese. Top this entire mixture of yumminess off with a tangy and sweet poppy-seed dressing; and you’ll be in Salad-Lover’s Heaven! This is such a perfect combination of flavors and textures, every bite is refreshing and delightful!
Y’all, let me just put this out there; I LOVE SALAD! I probably eat it for at least one meal a day, at least 5 days a week. At least. This particular salad is being put out there more as a side dish, then as a main dish. However, add a grilled chicken breast to this mix of greens and in-season fruits, and voila!, you’ve now got a perfectly balanced, nutritious, and delicious lunch!
Let me tell you about this bit of salad fabulousity:
Every fruit has it’s season. When they are in season, that’s when they taste their best. I love Washington cherries, and if you can get them fresh, you should definitely throw them in this salad. Honestly though, the dried ones taste just as fabulous! Honeycrisp apples are at their finest mid-fall, as are Anjou pears! They actually call them winter fruit, but because they are harvested mid-fall, I call this a fall harvest salad. That being said, I actually eat this Fall Harvest Fruit Salad all of Fall and through the Winter as well! It’s quick and easy to make, beautiful to look at, and delicious to eat!
Now let’s talk dressing!
I’m of the opinion that a dressing can make or break a salad. This poppy-seed dressing is delicious! A little bit goes a long way, so be warned of that.
A couple quick tips about this dressing:
- This poppy-seed dressing has simple syrup in it, so if you are making your own simple syrup, be sure it has time to cool before making your dressing.. You can either purchase this syrup, or make it yourself! Should you choose to make it yourself, never fear! It is as the name suggests: Simple.
Simple syrup is just one part water to one part sugar: heat on the stove until the sugar has dissolved and then cooled and stored for use later. I often make a couple cups of this at a time and store it in my refrigerator for use in dressings, glazes and drinks. It’s great to have on hand! - You CAN mix this dressing by hand or in a salad dressing shaker. Of the two, I highly suggest the shaker. However, for absolute best results; You should make it in a blender. I only say this because blending it guarantees that the ingredients are fully incorporated and the flavors well mixed.
Butterflies in your stomach moment!
You’ve now got your gorgeous salad assembled, and you have your delicious dressing well mixed; Combine the two, take a bite and feel so happy inside!
*Fun Optional ingredient switcheroo:
Switch out your candied pecans for some cashews! SOOO YUMMY!!!
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 Large head of Romaine
- 4 oz grated Swiss Cheese
- 1/4 c Dried Cherries
- 1 Honeycrisp Apple, 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 Fresh Pear, thin slices
- 1/2 c Candied Pecans, chopped small
- 1c Simple Syrup
- 1/3 Lemon Juice
- 2 tsp onion, finely chopped
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2/3 c Vegetable Oil
- 1 TBS Poppy Seeds
Instructions
- Toss all ingredients together, taking care not to mash or smash any of your fruit.
- In blender, mix all ingredients except the oil and poppy-seeds. once mixed, start blender and slowly add oil while processing. Add poppy-seeds at the very end and do a couple quick spurts more of blending to make sure they are well incorporated.
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