Meatless Monday – Fall Salad with Orange-Maple dressing

Happy Fall y’all! This salad is making it’s way to our table at least once a week. The addition of maple syrup to the orange dressing gives it a wonderful sweetness, richness, and depth. The salad is fresh and crisp and makes good use of what’s in season at this time of year. Enjoy!

Ingredients

For the dressing:
2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of vinegar (apple cider or Trader Joe’s Gourmet Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar)
2 heaped tablespoons of frozen orange juice concentrate
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Squirt of yellow mustard
Dash of garlic powder, or one small clove of fresh garlic pushed through a garlic press
Salt and pepper to taste
For the salad:
3 cups Sweet lettuce (loosely packed), tough stems removed and leaves roughly chopped
**sweet lettuce is similar to romaine
3 Rainbow carrots, peeled into strips (using a vegetable peeler)
1 cup mixed cherry tomatoes, halved
One bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange), finely chopped
2 Persian cucumbers, finely chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup of candied Pecans, roughly chopped into small pieces

Instructions

1. Place ingredients for salad dressing into a mason jar fitted with a lid. Shake vigorously and set aside.
2. Toss lettuce and carrots together in a large bowl.
3. Add tomatoes, bell pepper, and cucumbers to the lettuce salad mixture.
4. Sprinkle pecans on top.
5. Give dressing another shake and pour desired amount of dressing over salad.
6. Toss and serve.

**Check out some of the items I used here by clicking on the Amazon link below. This link is an affiliate link, your purchase costs will be the same but The Masala Girl will automatically receive a small commission, thanks for your support. 🙂