Autumn Chopped Salad
on Oct 14, 2021, Updated Nov 28, 2021
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With roasted sweet potatoes, apples, pears, romaine, kale and sherry vinaigrette, this autumn chopped salad is all about the best flavors of fall.
I’ve never met a chopped salad I didn’t like or pretty much love. What’s there not to get excited about when everything is cut into perfect fork-sized bites?
A good chopped salad packs in A LOT of things into a single bowl. Embrace the ingredient list because it will be worth it. Trust me.
Chopped might be my favorite way to eat a salad. I like changing up the ingredients depending on my season or mood.
So it seems like just the right time to revisit this version of a fall chopped salad. It is great for lunch or dinner on any day, but what I love about it is that it’s worthy of special meals like Thanksgiving.
What You Need For The Best Fall Salads
Because so many fruits and veggies are in season right now, I think you are obligated to find a way to use both.
That’s why I include sweet potatoes, apples and pears in this salad. Of course, I roast the sweet potatoes, and I leave the apples and pears raw, just dicing them.
The best fall salads have an assortment of tastes and textures from savory to sweet. Then they have extras like crumbled blue cheese for a pop. The interior designer in me would say this strong cheese is like an accent color or accessory. When you see it with everything else, you realize what you were missing.
Lettuce For Chopped Salads
Don’t call it indecision. I use two kinds of greens in the salad. Romaine hearts are the lighter green, more yellow inner leaves of a head of romaine. Most often you see them in Caesar salads.
To go with the romaine hearts, I chop lacinato kale. The bitter dark green leaves are a sturdy base for the weight of the sweet potatoes, apples and pears.
Hearts of romaine are a touch sweet, so they balance out the bitterness of the kale.
The Ingredients
These are the ingredients for this fall salad:
- Sweet Potatoes: The recipe calls for 2 medium sweet potatoes, which is about a pound.
- Apples: The crisper the apple, the better. Just think about the crisp, fresh lettuce. Some of my go-to varieties include Pink Lady and Honeycrisp.
- Pears: In a way, pears are more mellow than apples. I love how they go together as the sweet elements in the salad.
- Romaine: I use hearts of romaine for their crisp texture—you can probably tell now that there’s a theme with this chopped salad!
- Kale: The combination of lacinato kale with the romaine and the sweet potatoes, apples and pears tastes very appropriate for the season.
- Pumpkin seeds: Also known as pepitas, pumpkin seeds add crunch.
- Blue cheese: Pungent blue cheese offsets the sweetness of the fruit.
- Scallions: Sliced scallions add subtle onion flavor.
- Parsley: Chopped fresh parsley gives the salad something herby.
- Sherry vinaigrette: The dressing is a simple mix of sherry vinegar, olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper.
How To Make An Autumn Chopped Salad
- Roast the sweet potatoes. Toss the diced sweet potatoes in olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread them over a sheet pan. Then roast them in a 400-degree F oven until they are tender and lightly browned the edges.
- Combine the salad ingredients. In a large bowl, stir together the romaine, kale, scallions, apples, pears, pumpkin seeds, blue cheese, parsley and sweet potatoes.
- Make the vinaigrette. Whisk the garlic, sherry vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad.
What To Add To A Fall Salad
If you want to turn this into an entrée salad by adding a protein, try shredded rotisserie chicken or even leftover turkey.
To keep the salad vegetarian, you can include a chopped hard-boiled egg.
Try These Other Autumn Salad Recipes
Pumpkin Wild Rice Salad
Apple Cabbage Salad
Kale Brussels Sprout Pear Salad
Roasted Cauliflower Kale Salad
Sweet Potato Chickpea Kale Salad
Kale Apple Salad
Pear Manchego Salad
Autumn Chopped Salad
Ingredients
- For salad
- 2 medium sweet potatoes about 1 pound, peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 hearts romaine chopped
- 1 bunch lacinato kale stems removed, leaves finely chopped
- 1 crisp apple diced
- 1 pear diced
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 2 scallions thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- For vinaigrette
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Toss the sweet potatoes with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper on a sheet pan and spread into a single layer. Roast for 25-30 minutes until the sweet potatoes are tender and slightly browned at the edges.
- In a large bowl, combine the romaine, kale, apples, pears, pumpkin seeds, blue cheese, scallions, parsley and sweet potatoes.
- For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, sherry vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and in a small bowl.
- Drizzle the vinaigrette in the salad before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Looks delicious.can’t wait to try them. Thanks
Delicious! I love chopped salad, and this one was easy to make and beautiful to look at as well as tasty. I served it with panini, and everyone enjoyed it. Thanks for a great recipe!
Made this tonight for dinner and it was so yummy! Definitely making again.