This salad has so much going for it, and it’s the prettiest winter salad eva! I love how it’s mostly sweet, but it’s got some spice, kind of like me! hahahahah *kneeslap* I think this salad is truly elegant and definitely worthy of a holiday get-together, whatever the size! The pears and the gorgonzola together are rather sophisticated, and I love me some crisp apples! And while you’re throwing this dish together, you’re not doing your duty unless you’re sneaking a few healthy apple slices for yourself! Enjoy!

For the Holiday Spiced Nuts you will need:

• 1 ½ cups pecans
• 1 ½ cups walnuts
• 2 TBS maple syrup
• 1 TBS brown sugar
• 1 pinch flakey sea salt
• ¼ tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1-2 TBSP olive oil

For the salad itself you will need:

• 2 TBSP lemon juice
• 2 large golden delicious Apples
• 2 large pink lady apples
• 1 Anjou pear
• 1 head endive lettuce
• 8 oz gorgonzola cheese

For the Apple Cider Dressing you will need:

• ⅔ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 3 TBS honey
• 3 TBS tahini
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch pepper
• 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme

Preheat the oven to 350. Add the nuts to a large mixing bowl. Stir together the syrup, spices, and oil, and drizzle over the nuts. Stir to coat. Spread the nuts on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes and set aside to cool.

In the meantime, slice the apples, pear, and toss in the lemon juice to keep from browning. Add the endive leaves and stir to combine. Set aside.

Make the dressing: combine all the ingredients in a jar, strip the leaves of the thyme off the stem and add them to the dressing. Shake or whisk to combine.

When ready to serve, pour the dressing over the apples, pear, and endive. Sprinkle the top with the spiced nuts and top with crumbled gorgonzola. Serve immediately for a tastebud dance party! Below is the handiest printable for the prettiest winter salad!