Carrot-Apple Salad

An alternative to green salad this time of year, and one of my son's favorite side dishes. It's packed with vitamins and fiber and compliments many main courses, especially meatloaf. Around here, leftovers get packed for school lunches.

I generally use Gala apples, but any crisp, sweet apple will do. I leave the skin on the apples; it adds lovely bits of color and it's good for you!


Carrot-Apple Salad

2 apples, cored and shredded (leave skin on)
3 carrots, pared and shredded
2-4 T. raisins
about 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
dash salt, optional
1-2 T. honey


Layer the apple and carrot in a large dish. Sprinkle with raisins and toss together. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and salt, if desired. Drizzle with honey. Cover and chill for 30 minutes to let flavors blend. Toss again before serving.

Cranberry Salads

What do you like to do with cranberries? These three holiday side dishes have been popular at our house over the years.

I've experimented with cranberry sauce variations, but always return to the recipe on the Ocean Spray bag (pictured). The jello salad is refreshingly tart-sweet and allows the texture of the raw berries to come through. And Frozen Cranberry Fruit Salad is almost a dessert: cold, creamy, colorful, with a medley of flavors and palatal sensations!

Whole-berry Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Sauce 

1 bag berries, rinsed and sorted
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Bring a boil. Simmer 5-10 minutes and ladle into jars. Cool and store in refrigerator.


Cranberry-Strawberry Jello Salad

1 (12 oz.) bag cranberries, rinsed and sorted
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. boiling water

1 small box strawberry jello
1/2 c. cold water
1/2 c. chopped fresh or frozen strawberries, optional

Process raw cranberries in blender till finely chopped. Scoop the pulp into a mixing bowl and stir in sugar. Dissolve jello in boiling water. Add cold water and stir into berries. Add strawberries, if desired. Chill till firm.


Frozen Cranberry Fruit Salad

1 (20 oz.) can pineapple tidbits
3 medium-firm bananas, sliced
2 cups cranberry sauce (or one can whole-berry sauce)
1/2 cup sugar
1 carton Cool Whip, thawed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Drain pineapple juice into a medium bowl; set pineapple aside. Add bananas to the juice. In a large bowl, combine cranberry sauce and sugar. Remove bananas, discarding juice, and add to cranberry mixture. Stir in pineapple, whipped topping, and nuts. Pour into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch dish, or divide into individual serving cups. Freeze until solid. (Remove from the freezer at least 15 minutes before cutting into square servings.)

Makes 12-16 servings

Pear-Walnut-Gorgonzola Salad

The kids love pear season, and so do I. Pears disappear off our counter so fast!

I made this grown-up salad for my birthday a few weeks ago and it's become my new fall favorite. I can't wait to make it again--after a trip for more pears, of course. It makes a perfect weekday lunch for two.

• A big bowl of greens (leaf lettuce and spinach was a great combination)
• Slices of sweet red onion
• A handful of toasted walnuts (pecans would be good, but walnuts say "autumn" to me)
• Dried cranberries
• Chunks of yellow-ripe pear
• A generous topping of Gorgonzola crumbles
• All drizzled with tangy raspberry vinaigrette

Yummyness!