Cherry Walnut Arugula Salad
The ingredients in this salad are simple but each one plays a role in creating the perfect, balanced bite. The baby arugula has a peppery flavor with hints of nuts and mustard. The cherries provide sourness and sweetness, the radicchio offers bitterness, and the walnuts add the necessary crunch. The La Tourangelle Roasted Walnut Oil enhances the flavor of the walnuts. Of course it’s fine to substitute olive or grapeseed oil, but I find that the roasted walnut oil adds a depth of flavor whereas the others are more neutral. I’d like to mention too that La Tourangelle has a variety of other delicious oils, including basil, avocado, herbs de provence and many more.
If you’re interested in adding additional protein, I’ve included instructions in the recipe below for roasted chicken breast. It’s also a good swap for the blue cheese, for any of you that are abstaining from dairy. If you’re a chicken lover, you should also check out our delicious Chicken Tostada recipe!
Enjoy the recipe, Happy Salad Making!
Cherry Walnut Arugula Salad
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 1 large salad or 2 small 1x
Description
Delicious Arugula Salad with SCD, Paleo, Low-Carb + Keto options included below.
Ingredients
For The Salad
- Baby Arugula, pre-washed (1 serving, as much as desired)
- 1/4 head of radicchio
- 1/4 cup of walnuts, halved
- 1/4 cup of crumbled blue cheese (Roquefort for SCD, for Paleo version use chicken- see instructions below)
- small handful of dried cherries (naturally sweetened, fewer for low-carb, none for keto)
For The Dressing
- 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons La Tourangelle Roasted Walnut Oil (or oil of choice)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey (or a tiny hint of stevia for low-carb)
- 1 teaspoon anchovy paste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place walnuts into a small skillet over medium heat, tossing frequently until they are lightly browned. Be sure to keep an eye on them as they can quickly go from toasted to burnt. Remove from pan and set aside.
- In a small bowl or ramekin, add all of the dressing ingredients together and whisk for thirty seconds until evenly combined.
- With the radicchio, a little goes a long way. Cut in half and remove white core. Cut into wedges and then chop into smaller pieces, pulling the layers apart by hand.
- Place arugula and radicchio into a mixing bowl and pour dressing over top. Using tongs, gently toss greens to coat with dressing throughout.
- Transfer greens to a salad bowl and top with toasted walnuts, dried cherries and crumbled bleu cheese.
- ***Optional–This salad is great on it’s own, but if you want some additional protein you can add roasted chicken breast. For roasted chicken breast, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Put a large sauté pan or dutch oven over medium high heat and add a liberal amount of grapeseed oil. Season chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Sear larger chicken breasts for three minutes on each side. For smaller or thinner chicken breasts, sear for two minutes per side. Transfer chicken breasts into a baking dish and bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes. Cool, cut into strips and add to salad. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 20 min
Keywords: arugula salad, dried cherries, roasted walnuts, keto, low-carb, gluten-free, easy dinner, veggies, blue cheese
Thanks for the salad inspiration, Ted. You nailed my (current) salads perfectly. Time for a change!
Haha! Thank you Paula, I’m really glad I could help and I hope you like the salad. Please let me know what you think!
What a vibrant salad Ted! I love radicchio as it has such a unique flavor. Combined with the arugula, dried cherries, and roasted walnut oil…wow! I can tell I’m going to love this one!
Thanks so much, Noelle! I really hope you like it. It’s become my go-to weeknight salad but I promise to switch it up after week 200! 😀
The salad doldrums are a real thing!! Thank you for acknowledging that haha! Such a delicious looking leafy salad. I look forward to trying this along with that walnut oil. Thank you for sharing Ted.
★★★★★
Haha, thank you so much Natalie! I felt it was my duty to bring this awful affliction out into the daylight. 😀 I really hope you enjoy the salad as much as I do!
I’ve actually been eating walnuts in my salads for a while now, I love the flavor they provide! This salad looks great, Catherine. I love the dressing!
★★★★★
You’re so kind Katherine, thank you my friend! I wish I could take credit for this salad, my husband makes the fresh food around here, I am strictly baked goods and comfort foods, haha!! And I so agree with you, walnuts add that extra special flavor! 😀
That salad is gorgeous! I’m always loving to try new salads, because as you said “salad doldrums” really does happen 🙂 It sounds so simple to throw together. Bleu cheese, walnuts, cherries, home-made dressing YUM! Can’t wait to try it! Pinning xo
★★★★★
Thanks so much for the kind words and review, Kim! I really hope you enjoy this salad. The ingredients are simple but I really love how they balance each other.
Walnuts are my favourite of the nuts, so I’m happy to see a salad with a few of them!! This salad is so colourful and delicious looking!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Katherine! I agree, walnuts really are the perfect salad topper, you really can’t beat the added flavor and crunch factor! 😀