So did you know that October is National Apple Month?  It’s also National Cranberry Month.  Who knew, right?  Well, probably competent food bloggers and recipe developers, but umm…not me.  And maybe you already knew too, but you can pretend you didn’t so I feel better about the fact that we are one week away from the end of October and I’m just realizing I probably should have been posting recipes with apples and cranberries as the main ingredients as opposed to pumpkin.  (It’s a good thing you’re reading that and not saying it because that was a long sentence.) I will remind you that I’ve only been blogging for twelve weeks now and ask you to please forgive me for my lack of knowledge relating to food fanatics.  🙂  Of whom I completely adore, of course.

That said, I want you to know I’ve been trying to find an apple-cranberry recipe to blog.  I made cookies on Wednesday that sounded amazing with Gouda cheese and oats, nutmeg, applesauce and of course apples and cranberries.  The kids went down for a nap and I headed to the kitchen only to be terribly disappointed.  I didn’t even finish making the cookies because I was tempted to throw away the dough.  Michael came home and told me he would eat them on his way to work as a breakfast snack, so I ended up finishing them, but I didn’t think they were worth blogging.  I’m pretty sure Mike’s just eating them to prove that he loves me.  There’s always the traditional apple pie and apple crisp, but do we really need another recipe for that?  I’m pretty sure it’s been perfected by someone else already.

It’s been terribly cold here the past week (okay, said by an Arizona-born girl who is already wearing long-johns in Michigan in October.)  We’ve been eating pastas and chicken tortilla soup (which I’ll be posting shortly) which is not a bad thing, but I noticed there was some sunshine in our future and I’ve been craving salad.  So this was the perfect solution to my lack of apple/cranberry blogging blues.  Introducing…Autumn Apple Cider Salad.  This salad kinda tastes like summer to me, but because apples are in season (and the whole national apple month thing) we’ll call it a fall salad.  I used apple cider as a main ingredient in the vinaigrette too which compliments the theme and taste.  The swiss cheese really adds a salty-buttery flavor that really works well to balance out the sweetness of the salad.  On the first day I shaved the swiss cheese and made the salad pretty, but on day three when I was still making and eating this salad (and yes we had three days straight of sunshine!) I just started quickly tearing small chunks of cheese off to throw it together quickly and man, those little bites of cheese are really fun to bite into with everything else.  You might want to try it that way once for kicks.  There are pears in this salad too which I didn’t add in the title because really, the title didn’t sound as cool and it ended up being way too long.  But they’re a lovely addition.  t didn’t put chicken in this salad the first time, but it does taste nice with the apples, so you know, go with your gut.  I mean that literally.  🙂 Happy National Apple Month! (Even if it is almost over…I guess there’s always next year.)

Ingredients

• 1 romain heart, chopped
• 1 bag spinach, torn or chopped
• 1 6 oz block Swiss cheese, shaved (or honestly, small chunks were amazing too, about the size of the cranberries, mmmmm)
• 1 cup roasted, salted cashews
• 1 large Gala apple, thinly sliced
• 1 large pear, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
• 1 shredded chicken breast (optional)

Directions

1. Toss the romain and spinach together.
2. Top with everything else.
3. Don’t forget to add the Apple Cider Vinaigrette!

Notes- Makes 3-4 servingsIngredients

• 4 tablespoons apple cider
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• A couple twists of fresh cracked pepper

Directions

1. Like pretty much every other salad dressing recipe I’ve posted, it’s easy enough.  Just mix all the ingredients with a whisk or shake the heck out of them, making sure you’ve sealed it well first of course, unless you want an olive oil shower.