Cabbage, Apple and Pecan Salad

I'm grateful for this salad. 

It's 12pm and I'm starving. I've been quite busy all morning with household chores, making breakfast and lunch for the working man, putting finishing touches on some chocolates, and truthfully I did not have a very healthy breakfast to start it all off.

So therefore I'm grateful for this salad that I made with dinner last night, and I'm really grateful that there was still some left in the fridge today, and I'm even more grateful that it tastes even better today than last night. Thank you winter salad. 

Just when I was starting to feel like I was at my wit's end with winter produce I dug deep and found this recipe I had bookmarked forever ago.

Found on Smitten Kitchen, originally from Chez Panisse Fruit* 

1 small cabbage

1/3 cup pecans or walnuts

2 tablespoons cider vinegar (I used red wine vinegar instead)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

salt and pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons creme fraiche or heavy cream

2 apples

1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese (I used Dutchman's Dragon Breath)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Slice the cabbage and apples into thin strips. 

Toast nuts on a baking sheet for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and crumble or chop coarsely.

Combine the vinegar, lemon juice and olive in a jar. Whisk in the olive oil and cream. Taste and adjust acid and salt if necessary (I ended up added the juice of 1/2 lemon to the salad once it was tossed in the bowl).

Combine cabbage, apples, nuts, blue cheese, and nuts in a large bowl and toss to coat. Let sit for a few minutes before serving.**

*Such a great book. If you haven't discovered Alice Waters and Chez Panisse please go to your local library or bookstore and read, read, read!

**I found that it actually tasted much better then next day after sitting in the dressing overnight in the fridge. Next time I'll make it well in advance of when I'll be serving it.