recipe reviews for:

Apple Walnut Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette

“This salad contains lots of greens and sliced Red Delicious apples with a sprinkling of toasted almonds. But the dressing is a bit fancier. Cranberries, onions, sugar, and mustard are pureed in the blender with balsamic vinegar and oil, then added to the salad so that it perfectly coats every leaf of lettuce and slice of apple.”

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Reviewed: Oct. 31, 2009

I followed the suggestions of other reviews. I added more cranberries and sugar to the dressing. I omitted the onion all together. I candied the walnuts and added craisins to the salad. I took it to girls night and everyone loved it. What a great salad.

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VTRAINER

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Reviewed: Oct. 27, 2009

Yum! I love this recipe as written, but I agree with the reviewers that suggest less onion in the dressing and adding onion to the salad. I put some green onionn and blue cheese in my salad this time. I also think this would make a great dinner salad with cold chicken or turkey, cheese and/ or bacon. Thanks for the recipe!

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SunnyByrd

Living In: Seattle, Washington, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 26, 2009

This was really good, but I think the dressing could be a tad sweeter. Next time I'll add more sugar.

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Lovin'Louie

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Oct. 17, 2009

So glad I read the reviews first. I reduced the onion as suggested and I brown the walnuts in the cinnamon/sugar -yum! I will also add grilled chicken or shrimp and make this a meal!

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Terry

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Reviewed: Oct. 14, 2009

When using an onion in any recipe like this, always buy large onions because they are milder. Also, you can soak the cut pieces of onion in water to lessen the strength of the strong taste.

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Susan

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Houston, Texas, USA

Living In: Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 14, 2009

My family and I loved this salad. I followed one of the users suggestion of coating the walnuts in a cinnamon/sugar glaze and adding dried cranberries. I omitted the onion from the recipe mainly because I'm just not a fan of onion but I wouldn't be opposed to trying it later just to see the difference. I thought the dressing was fine without. It is a little thick but does the job - once it's tossed it's no big deal! Next time i will also try with feta and also will cut the apples into smaller pieces instead of wedges. This salad is definitely a keeper!

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Reviewed: Oct. 1, 2009

Dressing was to thick

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Karlene MacGregor

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Reviewed: Sep. 28, 2009

I'm not a big salad person but this one definitely changed my mind! I made a few slight changes. I toasted the walnuts with a little bit of melted butter and cinnamon and sugar. It was a great contrast to the dressing. Also, I used the cranberries and onions in the salad dressing as well as adding them whole to the salad itself. First I softened the dried cranberries with a little bit of cinnamon water. I found that making the dressing a night or two before gave it better flavor. This dish won first prize at my work potluck!

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Myoung

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Reviewed: Sep. 27, 2009

This was delicious! The roasted walnuts are perfect! Yum, Yum!

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Jason Rule

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Reviewed: Sep. 22, 2009

I was looking for a fall salad to go with a dinner I was cooking and this was perfect. I didn't have the cranberries so I just left those out. And I substituted the walnuts for pecans. But my whole family really enjoyed it. The onions were a little much but overall it was good. It was so much better than putting dressing on some lettuce and that is it! The apples gave it a really good crunch! I will definitly be trying this with the cranberries next time!!!

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SammiJO

Home Town: Washington, Missouri, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 22, 2009

This is an incredibly good salad! The recipe does make WAY to much dressing, though...I would cut the recipe in half next time. I did make a couple of changes...first of all, I doubled the amount of walnuts, and instead of toasting them, I put about 1 tbs. brown sugar and 1/2 tsp. water in a saucepan, brought it to a boil, stirred in the walnuts, and after the nuts were coated, stirred in about 1/2 cup more brown sugar, and some salt and pepper. I stirred it up, removed from the heat, and allowed to cool on some foil. These were FANTASTIC on the salad, for some reason, they tasted incredible with the dressing. I also added some dried cranberries, because I wanted more cranberry flavor than the light taste in the dressing. With these changes, this salad was one of the best I've ever eaten! Thanks for sharing!

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larkspur

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Living In: Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 21, 2009

Fantastic! I used less onion as recommended and used toasted pecans instead of walnuts because that is what my family prefers and added a little bit of shredded mozzarrella. Great salad! Will definitely be making again! Update: made this for a dinner party and everyone went back for seconds! I was even asked for the recipe which means it is extremely good! It is a new favorite!

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hannah234432

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 20, 2009

I cut down the amount of onion as mentioned by other reviewers. I did not have cranberries so I substituted craisens in the dressing, then sprinkled some on with the apples. Everyone wanted second helpings and my guests all asked for the recipe. This is one salad I will make again.

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jayann1

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Sep. 18, 2009

This has become an all time favorite of mine. I am a big time salad eater where my meal consists of a huge bowl of salad. The dressing for this salad is wonderful. I double the cranberries and keep everything else the same. Yummy! Yummy! I got the idea from seeing other salads to try this recipe with candied walnuts. So far, I've tried this recipe with cinnamon candied walnuts, regular candied walnuts, and store bought candied walnuts (Diamond brand, from Sam's Club) and all are excellent! I also add cucumber, carrots, red bell pepper, sliced onion, apples, (grapes if I have some on hand), lots of spinach and some salty feta cheese to finish on the top with the walnuts. Remember, this is my meal! I absolutely love this salad and all the fruits/veggies I add to this salad all compliment one another. The only thing I have found that doesn't fit are olives and tomatoes! Excellent recipe! Thank you!

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Crystal

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Reviewed: Sep. 18, 2009

I love the combination of fruit and nuts in a salad and wanted to use some apples up. Our neighbors invited us over for dinner aand said they were having pork so I thought this would be a perfect combination. It was a big hit. I forgot the onion though! Added dried cherries. Would add blue or gorgonzola cheese next time.

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Reviewer:

DianeO

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Jackson, Michigan, USA

Living In: Lansing, Michigan, USA

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Reviewed: Aug. 26, 2009

Amazing salad with a few modifications. I candied the walnuts in a pan with some brown sugar instead of toasting them in the oven. I also put half the onion in the dressing and the other half directly in the salad. Threw some craisins in the salad as well. Also, I used craisins in the dressing, not fresh cranberries as some reviewers were saying. It was deeeeelish! Everyone was talking about it at a dinner party I brought it to. :) Oh, one more thing! I added goat cheese to the salad and it was SO yum with the apples and cranberry flavor.

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PRETTYAMYS

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Reviewed: Jul. 21, 2009

The salad was very good and the dressing is out of this world. This was my first attempt at a salad dressing and went so well that I can't wait to try another. Just a note, I used shaved almonds because that is what I had and it was still good. Also, per recommendation of previous reviewers, did not add the onion to the dressing but directly to the salad. Perfection.

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LPROC

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Reviewed: Jun. 22, 2009

This was excellent, though next time I'll use a little less of the onion. To compensate for how strong it was, I just added more cranberries.

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RyannaS

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 24, 2009

An excellent seasonal recipe!

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Jan

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Reviewed: Jan. 7, 2009

Yumm - I made this salad for Christmas dinner and it was a big hit with my guests. I got lots of compliments on the dressing. I followed the advice of other reviewers and cut way back on the onion and also glazed the walnuts prior to toasting. I also sprinkled Craisins on the individually plated salads prior to serving. This one is definitely a keeper.

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