Cranberry Walnut Salad With Apple Vinaigrette

I have always found salads quite complicated to come up with, believe it or not.  (At this point, you may be thinking "weirdo" but I can live with that!) So, recently, I have been making the effort to come up with salads on my own and boldly go forth into all manner of salad experiments. I learned a few things:

a) salads are fun to put together
b) you can put ANYTHING you want in them
c) no one will say "no" to some greenery on a plate :)
d) you can make your own salad dressing, and it can be ANYTHING you want it to be!

So, for Thanksgiving, I wanted to come up with a nice salad that would complement the rest of my dinner. And this Cranberry Walnut salad with Apple Vinaigrette came together at the very last minute, when I got sudden inspiration from the cranberries and walnuts that went into the stuffing. The apple vinaigrette was a last-minute happy invention, because the apple cider vinegar happened to be sitting in front of all the others on the shelf, and it occurred to me that I could mix it with olive oil and that would taste good with all the salad elements I had thus far chosen. Who knew! The flavors ended up going well together, and packed quite a punch. It was well-received at dinner and I already got two requests for the recipe, so I thought that warranted posting!

Cranberry Walnut Salad With Apple Vinaigrette

You can use any vegetables you want/have on hand. I used spinach and mixed greens, chopped carrots, chopped celery, chopped cucumbers, dried cranberries, and chopped walnuts. The apple vinaigrette is the best part though, The proportions are: 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon white sugar. Whisk these together very well and toss with salad just before serving. Yum!