Autumn Apple Salad

This Wednesday 21st October was the 30th anniversary of Apple Day! Launched by Common Ground in 1990, Apple Day was created to inspire local celebrations of this beloved fruit and to celebrate the diversity of apple varieties we have historically grown in the UK and to encourage the protection of this diversity. I learned about Apple Day back in 2018 from Pete Brown’s book The Apple Orchard and decided to visit Borough Market for their Apple Day celebrations. I thoroughly enjoyed sampling lots of different varieties, learning about orchards and apple growing, drinking hot cider and meeting the “Green Man” or “Berry Man”. It’s a shame that events like these haven’t been able to happen this year (for obvious and understandable reasons), so I wanted to give my own little “nod” to apples with today’s autumn apple recipe.

I was recently given a huge crate of apples from my grandmother’s garden, so what better way to celebrate Apple Day than to use some of her homegrown apples! Most of them were Bramley apples so those ones will be mainly used in chutneys, crumbles and pies over the winter, but she gave us a few eating apples too. One of the varieties is an eater but it’s really quite sharp in flavour, so I thought it would work perfectly in a yummy, crisp autumn salad. Our homegrown cavolo nero kale has been growing really well, so I harvested some of these deep green leaves to make my salad healthy and hearty.

The salad is a simple combination of sliced, fresh apple and wilted cavolo nero, with some roasted golden beetroot that I couldn’t resist adding in. The dressing has a hint of garlic and I used some hard sheep’s cheese for a bit of creaminess, and candied some pecans for crunch, sweetness, and a bit of indulgence. You’ve got to allow yourself a bit of luxury every now and then!

Autumn Apple Salad Recipe

Serves 1 as a main so you can adjust for more people

Ingredients

For the salad

• 1 apple
• Handful kale
• 1 golden beetroot
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• Small handful pecans
• 1 tbsp salted butter
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• Hard goat’s or sheep’s cheese

For the dressing

• 1/2 tbsp Cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 1/2 tsp Garlic puree
• 1 tsp honey
• Salt & pepper

Method

1. Peel the golden beetroot and cut into wedges. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast at 200C/180 Fan for 25-30 minutes or until tender.
2. While the beetroots are roasting, melt the butter in a pan before adding the pecans. Take care that they don’t burn. When the nuts are coated in butter, evenly sprinkle over the brown sugar and cook until melted and covering the pecans in a glistening sugar-coat. Pour onto a plate to cool before roughly chopping.
3. Prepare the dressing by combining the ingredients in a jug and seasoning to taste.
4. When the beetroots are ready, get them out of the oven and set aside to cool slightly. Bring a pan of water to the boil and wilt the kale.
5. Assemble the kale, apple and beetroot to serve, drizzle over the dressing, crumble over the sheep’s cheese and sprinkle the sweet, candied pecans to finish.

As always let me know what you think of this yummy autumn apple salad and feel free to tag me on Instagram @plotandlane if you give this recipe a try. I always love to see your creations!