Autumn Apple Salad

It’s time to celebrate the flavors of fall! This Autumn Apple Salad highlights the season’s best fruit and is packed with superfoods like spinach, walnuts, and garbanzo beans! Making your own dressing is a great way to control sugar content and ingredient quality in your recipes. Looking to make it a meal? Add your favorite protein like chicken, salmon, or eggs!

Serves 8-10
Prep Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

Salad

• 1 bag/container baby spinach
• 1 honeycrisp apple, sliced thin
• 1/3 cup toasted walnuts
• 1 can garbanzo beans, roasted and cooled
• ½ cup crumbled blue cheese
• ¼ cup sugar-free dried cranberries

Dressing

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp maple syrup (may sub honey or sugar-free maple syrup)
• ¼ tsp rubbed sage
• ¼ tsp chili powder

Directions

1. Roast the garbanzo beans: preheat oven to 425 degrees (220 celsius), and drain and rinse 1 can of beans. Spread beans out on a kitchen towel and let dry. Once dried, spread into an even layer on a baking sheet (with sides). Drizzle with about 1 tbsp olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste. Roast for 25 minutes or until crisp.
2. Assemble the salad: lay spinach in a bowl, arrange toppings over spinach, and top with garbanzo beans. Toss with dressing right before serving.
3. To make the dressing, simply whisk all ingredients together until well combined.