FALL ARUGULA SALAD WITH PEARS AND CANDIED PECANS 

For the Salad:   

Sorry, I didn’t measure!  You will have to adjust the amounts to what you like! 

• One bag or tub of baby arugula  

• 1-2 sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed and roasted 

• 2 pears, ripe but firm, sliced or diced in chunks 

• Pecans, toasted or candied 

• Dried cranberries  

• Goat cheese, crumbled 

For the Honey-Lemon Dressing: 

• 1/2 cup olive oil 

• Juice and zest of one large lemon 

• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 

• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder 

• ½ teaspoon salt and a grind of black pepper 

• 2 tablespoons honey (start with this amount, you might want more if you like it sweeter) 

Instructions:  The first three steps can all be done a day or more ahead of time. 

1. Roast the sweet potatoes: Toss cubed sweet potatoes with some olive oil and a little salt and pepper.  Roast at 375 F for around 30 minutes, until tender and just starting to get a little brown on the edges.  Allow to cool.  Can be made ahead and stored in the fridge.  These can be added to the salad warm(ish) or cold. 

 

2. Prepare the pecans: You can toast the pecans in a skillet, or you can make candied pecans.  This can also be done ahead of time.  I used praline pecans from Costco.  They were good but the praline coating was a little bit thicker than I would have liked.  Next time I will make my own candied pecans or buy a pecan with a lighter coating.   

 

3. Make the dressing: Combine all the dressing ingredients in a jelly jar and shake until emulsified.  This can be made ahead as well.  I didn’t measure my honey and I think I probably added more than the 2 tablespoons in the recipe.  You might have to taste and adjust to your taste.   

 

4. Assemble the salad: Add all the ingredients except the dressing in a large bowl. Wait to add the dressing until right before serving, as it will start to wilt the arugula.  I diced the pears an hour or two ahead of time and tossed them with a little bit of the lemon dressing to keep them from turning brown between cutting and serving the salad.   

The First Frost - Oct. 1

Well last night was the first frost and it is always a hard decision at this time of year whether to cover all the garden plants or to just let them be done. We (meaning my husband) covered all of them, as I would still like to reap a few more of all those tomatoes that are on the vines. Also our sweet potatoes are only about the size of my finger and nowhere near big enough. I am not sure if squeezing one more week out of them will make a difference or not. I suspect that the problem may be that the soil we had them planted in was too clay and not well enough drainage. However it could be that the season was just too short. Our sweet potato slips were delayed in getting to us and we had to plant them several weeks later than I would have liked. I need to remember next year to write down the date that we plant them so that I can keep track of when to pull them out. They take around 115 days, so it is really pushing the boundaries of our planting cycle around here. Even if we don't get any good sweet potatoes this year I would be willing to try them again next year. The foilage was really quite lovely and I think with better soil we could get a nice yield. Mmm... now I am craving broccoli and sweet potatoe stir fry.