Wine-Poached Apple and Granola Salad

Recipe by Curvy Carbivore (@curvycarbivore) in partnership with My Favorite Indulgence

Yield: 4 servings | Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes | Total time: 30 minutes

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I feel like I needed something green after shoving my face full of pumpkin deserts for the past few weeks, so this salad fulfilled my craving for something sweet and healthy at the same time. that's where this Wine-Poached Apple and Granola Salad comes in! These apples are to die for - they're soft, spiced, and perfectly sweet, and surprisingly way easier to make than I initially expected. And one of my favorite parts of this salad is the My Favorite Indulgence Almond Granola. It's sweet, crunchy, and seriously tastes homemade from scratch. It's so good I won't blame you if you eat it right out of the bag like I do :)

The combination of the wine and cinnamon apples, crunchy granola, white vinaigrette, and nutty walnuts make this salad a perfect fall dish. And it would be gorgeous on a Thanksgiving table!

Poached Apple Ingredients:

• 2 large apples (I used honeycrisp)

• 1 cup red wine

• 1 cup water + more if needed

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 1 star anise

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 container (16oz) of mixed salad greens

• 1/2 cup My Favorite Indulgence Almond Granola (or any granola with nuts)

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• 4 tbsp high quality oil (extra virgin olive oil, walnut oil, or avocado oil)

• 1/4 cup white balsamic

• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions:

• Begin by poaching the apples.

• Peel the skin off the apples, the cut them into halves. Remove the core and seeds.

• In a medium size sauce pot, combine the rest of the poached apple ingredients. Do not add the apples yet.

• Bring the pot to a low simmer, and stir occasionally to make sure the sugar is dissolved.

• Once it reaches a simmer, add in the apple slices.

• Make sure the apples are completely submerged in the liquid (add more water here if needed).

• Cover and simmer on low for about 10 minutes.

• Remove the pot from heat (keep it covered) and let the apples soak in the pot for about 10 minutes. Here they will absorb the wine and turn a deep red color.

• Once the apples have soaked, remove them from the pot and place them on a plate to cool for a few minutes.

• While the apples are cooling, assemble the salad.

• Combine the salad greens, granola, and chopped walnuts in a large bowl.

• Drizzle the salad with oil, white balsamic, and lemon juice, and mix so that everything is evenly coated.

• Dish the salad up into 4 bowls.

• Slice the apples and place on top of the salads, using 1/2 apple on each salad.

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Tips and Tricks:

• Some additional salad toppings that would be great in here: dried cranberries, vegan goat cheese, vegan feta cheese, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds.

• Store any leftovers in separate air-tight containers in the fridge: salad greens will last up to 2 days, and poached apples up to 3 days.

Nutrition & Servings: (calculated by MyFitnessPal)

• Servings: 1 salad with 1/2 poached apple (yields 4 salads)

• Calories: 350

• Total Fat: 23g

• Carbs: 37g

• Protein: 5g

^ Nutrition facts include the ingredients listed above. Nutrition facts may change slightly if different quantities of ingredients are used or added.