Fall crunch salad with maple dijon vinaigrette and quick herby maple candied nuts

Plus, my tips for how to make the best salad, every time

Hello! Welcome back! Skip all the rambling and scroll right to the bottom of this post for a printer-friendly PDF of the recipe only.

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Fall weather is *finally* here in LA ( hopefully to stay this time), which has me shifting into autumnal cooking. Comfier, denser foods. More warming spices, more squash and apples, more slow cooking.

But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up on my salads. And while I like and respect a warm salad, I’m really a cold, crunchy gal. I need texture! I need refreshment! To me, this type of salad is deeply satisfying, and it’s what I crave most days for lunch and many nights for dinner.

So this week, I let the two sides of my brain collide — give me fall and give me refreshment, they said — to create one of the best damn salads I’ve ever made.

Tell me more

It’s autumnal while also being oh-so-fresh, requires minimal cooking and prep, can be easily scaled up or down depending on how many mouths you need to feed, and can be prepped ahead of time and stored in the fridge for a quick meal whenever you need it. In short, it’s the perfect salad?

I’m calling it fall crunch salad for lack of a better title and also because it really does kind of cover it — lots of crunch, lots of seasonal flavors like apples and cinnamon and maple and rosemary. To me, this salad tastes like something you’d get at a cute little café that has a rotating selection of bountiful, beautiful veggie-forward dishes behind a glass wall that you point at and someone scoops onto your plate. I love those kind of places.

Before we start

• The candied nuts here are really so good and worth making on their own. They are sweet, salty, herby, and warming — all the things. The recipe makes more than you’ll need for this salad. Keep them in the fridge and throw them on anything and everything, or just eat them as a snack all on their own.

• Speaking of candied nuts, they’re the only thing you’ll have to cook for this and they take about 5 minutes. Other than that, you’ll just need a cutting board and sharp knife to slice and dice everything up. IF you really don’t want to do any type of cooking at all and are just in a chopping mood, use plain regular roasted nuts or buy some candied nuts. No shame.

• We’re using a rotisserie chicken here because of ease and deliciousness. If you love rotisserie chickens as much as I do, I have a newsletter from this summer with a few more suggestions for what to do with the rest.

• Because we’re not adding in any greens or easily-wilting veggies, this will keep beautifully in the fridge. You can of course add greens if you choose — arugula would be my choice. Just make sure you mix it in right before serving if you’re prepping ahead.

• Like all salads (and recipes, for that matter), you should feel free to make this one your own. Swap in what you like for what you don’t, add in a little something extra that just sounds good in the moment, make it less sweet or a bit spicy. Have fun with it! Or, if you prefer to just follow instructions because that’s easiest for you, do that — you won’t be disappointed, this is a good one.

• And, speaking of salads…

My tips for the best salad, every time

I eat salads at home a lot, and I really do think there’s a bit of an art to making one for yourself. I’ve heard so many people say that they like salads at restaurants but not at home, and I think it really comes down to a few key elements. Most days, I just throw something together with what I have on hand, but I do keep these general guidelines in mind to create a meal-in-a-bowl that tastes fantastic every single time.

Play with textures: My biggest pet peeve when it comes to salads is one that packs no textural diversity. A heap of tender greens with some shredded cheese, avocado, and shredded chicken sounds fine in theory but ends up being just a pile of soft on soft on soft.

When building a salad, think through all the different textures. What can you add for a little more chew? A little more crunch? A little more creamy? These can come in the form of greens (kale and endive will add a lot more texture than a baby spring mix), veggies both raw and cooked, nuts, fresh and dried fruit, protein, cheese, avocado, and even the kind of salt you finish your salad with.

How you slice it: Shredded carrots are different than carrot ribbons are different than carrot coins are different than roasted carrot coins. I love a chopped salad where everything is cut up quite uniformly, but in most cases I’ll change up how I’m slicing my veggies to add a little more interest, both visually and taste-wise.

Salt, fat, acid, sweet: That’s my go-to dressing formula.

• Salt adds saltiness, yes (I like finely ground sea salt in my dressing), but so do anchovies, soy sauce, fish sauce, capers, olives, parmesan cheese, and dijon mustard.

• I generally reach for either lemon juice, red wine vinegar, or a combination of both to add acidity, but there are so many options, especially when it comes to vinegar. Some are more bracing and zingy, others more soft and mellow. Add one or two or three! Grapefruit juice can be nice, as can the brine from a jar of pickles.

• I used to be very opposed to any kind of sweetener in my dressing, but I’ve come to realize that even a splash/pinch of something sweet — maple syrup, agave, orange juice, jam, granulated sugar, or even good balsamic vinegar — can really brighten and enhance the rest of the flavors.

• Plain extra virgin olive oil is my go-to when it comes to dressings, though there are infused olive oils out there that can add a ton of delicious flavor. O Olive Oil and Vinegar’s Fresh Basil Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a favorite of mine, as is Brightland’s Ardor Chili Olive Oil. If I’m making something Asian-ish, I’ll use sesame oil, and avocado oil is great if you want something pretty mellow and neutral.

• Don’t forget the extras, like herbs, alliums, spices, mustards, egg yolks, mayo, citrus zest, fruits, veggies — the list goes on. You don’t need to add all (or any) of these, but even half a clove of garlic or a sprinkle of cumin can completely change your dressing.

• Play with the proportions to get something that tastes good to you. I tend to prefer a mix of about 1/4 cup acid, 1/3 cup oil, plus a dash or two of sweetener along with whatever flavorings or extras I’m using, and a good pinch of salt. Find what tastes good to you, make a big batch, and keep it in the fridge — I promise it’ll be better than the store-bought stuff.

• The general rule is that you should whisk together all your ingredients except oil, then slowly whisk in the oil to emulsify it. If you wanna do that, cool. Sometimes I do, sometimes I throw everything in a jar and shake it, sometimes I blend things up, sometimes I just eyeball each ingredient separately and pour them directly onto the salad, then mix, taste, adjust, mix, taste, adjust.

Make it hearty: Unless you’re tossing together a side salad, chances are you’ll want something in there with a little more heft to keep you full. I love a rotisserie chicken (obviously), but also will use whatever leftover meat I have on hand, some tinned fish, hard-boiled eggs, beans, my daughter’s frozen chicken nuggets, etc. A salad with a salmon filet or some steak on top is always nice. And if I’m not in the mood for any of this, some cooked veggies will add satisfying bulk, too.

Don’t forget the extras: Croutons! Nuts! Dried fruit! Fried onions! Breadcrumbs! Cheese! Grains! Pasta! A salad shouldn’t be just veggies.

Make something you love: Every rule is moot if you end up with a salad that doesn’t excite you. Whether you’re trying to recreate something you’ve had in a restaurant, experimenting with fun ingredients you bought at the market, or using up the bits and bobs in your crisper, get in touch with your taste buds and your intuition. Channel what really sounds good in that moment, on that day. Sometimes that could be something colossal and full of different flavors and ingredients, like today’s recipe, other times it might be a simple mix of arugula, parmesan, and pine nuts. Whatever it is, you should actually enjoy the final product.

The recipe

Serves: 2

Cook time: 20 minutes (mostly chopping)