Blackberry-Pecan Salad with Blackberry Ginger Balsamic Vinaigrette

Do you enjoy gourmet food? In a recent article, I described my experience with the gourmet food delivery I received from TavernDirect. In that hub, I told readers that I’d be experimenting with the products, and I have. I also promised to share any good recipes I came up with, and I am! I decided to tackle the blackberry ginger balsamic vinegar first, by making a simple salad dressing. With a salad dressing, of course, you have to have a salad, right? I decided to keep the salad pretty simple, so I just used some iceberg lettuce as the base. I added some whole blackberries. I wanted to use fresh berries but couldn’t find any. Instead, I used frozen blackberries with no sugar added. I thawed the berries first. I also added some toasted pecans.

Toasting the pecans really intensifies their flavor, and it makes them super crunchy. You can do this two ways – in the over or in a skillet. If you toast them in the oven, you can do a large batch at one time and have plenty for other recipes or for snacking. For oven toasted, dip the nuts in melted butter and place them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Make sure the nuts are in a single layer. Bake at 350 degrees for fifteen minutes. Once cool, break the nuts into pieces.

To toast pecans in a skillet, chop or break the nuts first so that there’s more surface area. Into a black iron skillet, melt a teaspoon of butter and turn burner on medium-medium high, depending on your stove. Add nuts and stir constantly for about five minutes. If you prefer dry roasted nuts on the stovetop, use a pan with a non-stick coating. Toss or stir the pecans while cooking to avoid scorching.

Once my salad was made, I tossed it with the blackberry balsamic vinaigrette dressing. If you like, you could crumble some blue cheese on top. Blue cheese is wonderful with fresh fruit! To turn the salad into a light meal, serve it with crackers and soft chevre. The chevre really compliments the blackberries well.

As I said, I used iceberg lettuce – that’s what I had on hand. I think the salad would be even better with mixed greens or baby spinach. I’m going to try that next time. I used pecans –again, that’s what I had in my kitchen. I think walnuts would be a great addition to the salad, also. Here’s the recipe for the dressing:

Holle’s blackberry balsamic vinaigrette

What you’ll need:

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup Tavern on the Green blackberry ginger balsamic vinegar

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

Two teaspoons minced garlic

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon onion powder

Directions: Place all ingredients in a jar with a lid. Screw lid on tightly and shake until the dressing is well blended. Store unused vinaigrette in the refrigerator.

This salad is great, and the blackberry balsamic vinaigrette is delicious! I also like the recipe because it’s different. In all honesty, I would never even have thought about making a blackberry vinaigrette if I hadn’t received the gourmet food from TavernDirect. In case you missed my article about this great gourmet food source, hubby and I have loved everything we’ve tried! The company is an offshoot of the famous Tavern on the Green Restaurant in New York City. If you’re into gourmet food, you won’t be disappointed with any of their products. Best of all, when you order, gourmet food delivery brings them to you!