Apple Pecan and Bacon Salad with Caramelized Shallot Vinaigrette Dressing

Indulge in the festive Apple Pecan and Bacon Salad with Caramelized Shallot Vinaigrette dressing. This salad is perfect for the holidays, with a delicious blend of sweet and savory flavors.

With holiday parties and gatherings in full swing, there's no better way to impress your friends and family than with this go-to holiday salad.

Crisp apples, candied maple pecans, crunchy bacon, and creamy blue cheese are combined with a caramelized shallot and garlic vinaigrette to create a mouthwatering dish.

EASY SALAD PREPARATION DURING THE BUSY HOLIDAY SEASON

What I truly love about this salad are the different salad components that can be prepped AHEAD of time! Let’s break it down:

Keep apples fresh and crisp

• To prevent apple slices from browning quickly, soak them in a mixture of water and lemon juice. This easy trick will help keep your apples looking and tasting fresh for longer.

Preparing Candied Maple Pecans

• For best results, make your candied maple pecans the day before you plan to use them. Once you've finished cooking them in a skillet, let them cool to room temperature before transferring them to the fridge to chill until needed.

Caramelized Shallot and Garlic Vinaigrette

• Begin by caramelizing a mixture of shallots and garlic in the skillet you just used to make the candied maple pecans. Then, add the mixture to a food processor with the remaining dressing ingredients. Store the dressing in an airtight container until you're ready to use it.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

---

Indulge in the festive Apple Pecan and Bacon Salad with Caramelized Shallot Vinaigrette dressing. This salad is perfect for the holidays, with a delicious blend of sweet and savory flavors.

Servings: 4-6 Prep: 10 MIN Cook time: 20 MIN

Ingredients

• 1 - 12 oz package of uncured, no sugar bacon

• 1 - container mixed greens

• 2 large handfuls arugula

• 6 oz blue cheese

• 1 large gala apple

to make the candied maple pecans

• 1 cup raw pecans

• 1 Tbsp grass-fed butter, ghee, or coconut oil

• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup

• ½ tsp cinnamon

• ¼ tsp smoked paprika

• ¼ tsp sea salt

to make the shallot vinaigrette

• 3 cloves of garlic, mashed

• 2 large shallots, thinly sliced

• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup

• 1 Tbsp dijon mustard

• ¼ cup avocado oil

• S+P to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and lay bacon out onto a tin foil lined sheet pan or wire rack baking pan. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until bacon is crispy. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels and set aside.

2. While the bacon is cooking, make the candied maple pecans by heating a skillet with 1 Tbsp of butter over medium heat.

3. Place pecans and syrup in the skillet, stirring constantly for about 3-5 minutes. While the syrup thickens and is coating the pecans, sprinkle seasonings over the pecans.

4. Spread the mixture out onto a parchment paper and allow to cool completely (the syrup will continue to harden as they cool). Set aside.

5. To make the dressing, add sliced shallots and mashed garlic to the same pan with 1 tbsp oil. Sauté for a few minutes until the shallots are caramelized and softened. Stir in the maple syrup, apple cider vinegar and a dash of salt and pepper and let simmer for 30 seconds or so. Transfer mixture to a food processor and add dijon mustard, oil and seasonings and pulse until mixture is smooth and creamy.

6. To a large salad bowl, add the mixed greens and arugula along with apple slices, candied maple pecans, bacon (roughly chopped), blue cheese crumbles and pour in the vinaigrette and toss to combine.

7. Taste the salad and season with more salt and freshly cracked black pepper if needed. Serve immediately.

Notes

• Making this salad for the holiday season and pushed for time? Find my go-to busy tips above with the header: EASY SALAD PREPARATION DURING THE BUSY HOLIDAY SEASON

Paleo Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

Hasselback Sweet Potatoes - Melt in your mouth, sop of buttery sweetness; you can’t tell it’s actually healthy for you! Paleo, dairy-free and gluten-free.

As someone who doesn’t eat gluten, sweet potatoes are one of my favorite carbohydrate sources. They are great after a hard workout when you need to replenish glycogen stores and nutritionally, are among the best sources of vitamin A along with riboflavin, thiamin, and carotenoids due to their naturally orange color.

Sweet potatoes nutrition versatility mirrors its versatility in our diet. They can be eaten any time during the day - paired well with most dishes from a poached egg for breakfast to adding coconut butter and cacao powder for dessert.

For this dish, it’s great for the holidays, as a side dish for dinner or implemented into lunch meal prep rotations!

As a tip, for the best Hasselback sweet potatoes, you’ll need to make deep incisions using a very sharp chef’s knife. Another thing I found was that if you place chopsticks on each side of the sweet potato and cut, it will make the best cut without going all the way through!

I would like to thank Bako Sweet for gifting me with these amazing organic California grown sweet potatoes! For more information regarding nutrition, products, and sourcing, check this link!

Now without further ado, let’s get to the recipe!

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

---

Hasselback Sweet Potatoes - Melt in your mouth, sop of buttery sweetness; you can’t tell it’s actually healthy for you! Paleo, dairy-free and gluten-free.

Ingredients 

• 4 Sweet potatoes

• 4 slices bacon (cooked and crumbled)

• ¼ cup raw pecans

• 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup 

• 1 Tbsp coconut sugar

• 1 Tbsp grass-fed butter

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• Avocado oil cooking spray

• Pink Himalayan sea salt

Directions 

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil, then coat the foil with cooking spray or simply use a silicone non-stick baking liner. 

2. Place a potato on a cutting board between two chopsticks or two wooden spoons. Using a sharp chef’s knife, slice the potato into ¼ inch thick slices. (The chopsticks will prevent you from slicing all the way through the potato)

3. Repeat the process with the remaining potatoes. Plate the potatoes on the sheet pan. Spray potatoes with avocado oil spray and sprinkle sea salt. 

4. Bake for 50-60 minutes until potatoes are tender, browned and tops are crispy. 

5. While the potatoes are cooking, melt butter in a small skillet on medium heat. Chop the pecans and add to the melted butter. 

6. Stir for about 2-5 minutes until you get a nutty aroma. Add coconut sugar and maple syrup and stir. 

7. As soon as the mixture starts to bubble, immediately add cinnamon to the mixture and take off the burner. Mix thoroughly until the mixture is thick but liquidy. May need to add tbsp water if the mixture is too thick. *Make sure the sugar doesn’t burn! This process is very fast.

8. Remove the potatoes from the oven and top each potato with pecan sugar mixture. Sprinkle the bacon and fresh thyme leaves over the top and enjoy!

Notes

• Ingredients that I used that are #paleoapproved

  • Pederson’s Organic No Sugar Added Uncured Smoked Bacon

  • Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Spray

  • Kerrygold Grass-fed Butter