Apple-Feta Tossed Salad

Photo by Taste of Home

I tried a couple of new recipes for our church potluck on Sunday, and both were keepers!  I made this salad: Apple-Feta Tossed Salad and it turned out absolutely delicious!

I should note that I did change up the dressing from what the recipe specifies.  I was working from the recipe in an older Taste of Home magazine, and it called for 6 tablespoons of olive oil and only 2 tablespoons of vinegar.  [The recipe as printed on the web site calls for no oil and 6 T. of vinegar, which was too tart for several reviewers.]  I also thought 6 T. of oil sounded like too much in the magazine recipe, and 2 T. vinegar sounded like too little.  So, I used 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and 4 tablespoons of vinegar.  I also used dried minced onion (about 2 teaspoons) and dried minced garlic (about a half teaspoon) and skipped the blender, just shaking the dressing up in a jar and making it a bit ahead of time so the dried ingredients would soften.  It just seemed easier to me, and the dressing came out perfectly.

The candied, peppered walnuts are a terrific part of the recipe and they are so easy to make.  I think this salad would also be good with blue cheese rather than feta, and I would like to experiment with different apple varieties like Ginger Gold or Honeycrisp. 

This salad was absolutely delicious and there were just a few tablespoons left in the huge bowl when the potluck was over.  I'll be making this again (probably several times) during apple season.  It's a keeper!