This salad is a perfect side dish, and would be a highlight at your Thanksgiving feast. Most of us don’t eat enough bitter foods, so we miss out on their many benefits. Best of all, their taste is balanced by the sweetness of apple and beet. We hope you enjoy this beautiful and tasty way to include more bitter foods in your diet.

Benefits of Autumn Salad

Bitter greens, like the ones found in this salad, are an amazing addition to your meals. They’re teeming with nutrition, packed with fiber, and they help kickstart the digestive process.

The bitter greens this Autumn salad recipe calls for have very powerful and positive effects on our health. These greens provide a bounty of nutrition to the meal. Vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, and folic acid are only some of the nutrients contained in these greens. Bitter greens like dandelion help support your eyes, nervous system, and skin.

The pecans in the salad are also awesome for health. The nutrients in pecans — like vitamin E, antioxidants, magnesium, and healthy fat — help protect the cell membrane, defend against oxidation, and help manage blood sugar levels.

Makes: 2 small side salads

What You’ll Need:

1 whisk or fork

1 small bowl or jar

1 salad bowl

1 pan (optional)

1 baking tray (optional)

Ingredients

For the salad:

2 ounces bitter greens (mustard, arugula, dandelion, etc.)

1 tart apple, sliced thin (Pink Lady, Liberty or any other crisp apple works well)

1 medium sized roasted beet, quartered OR 1 medium sized raw beet, grated

¼ cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped

For the vinaigrette:

1 tablespoon minced shallot

3 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar (could also use brown rice, apple cider, or balsamic)

¼ cup olive oil

pinch of sea salt

If you wish to use a roasted beet, preheat the oven to 350°F, then coat the beet in olive oil and sea salt and roast on a baking tray until tender (about 30-45 minutes.)

In a small bowl or jar whisk together the ingredients for the dressing, then set aside. (You can use a whisk or fork.)

If the pecans aren’t toasted, do so by warming them in a dry heavy bottomed pan. Once golden brown, remove them from the pan, let cool, then roughly chop.

Prepare the apple and beet.

Toss the greens with the apple, beet, and pecans, then mix in the vinaigrette.

Recipe and photography by the Clean team