Fall Salad With Apples, Cheddar and Crispy Sage

Name: Fall Salad With Apples, Cheddar and Crispy Sage
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients: ¼ cup olive oil; 25 medium to large sage leaves; Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and pepper; 2 tablespoons honey; 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard; 1/3 cup lemon juice (from 2 to 3 lemons); 1 medium shallot, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup); 1 pound sweet and crisp apples (such as Honeycrisp or Cripps Pink, 2 to 3 medium); 6 ounces aged white Cheddar, chopped or sliced into bite-size pieces; 1/4 cup chopped parsley; 2 small or medium heads butter lettuce, leaves torn (about 6 loosely packed cups)

By Christian Reynoso

Published Oct. 4, 2022

Fall Salad With Apples, Cheddar and Crispy Sage — Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Prop Stylist: Carla Gonzalez-Hart.

Total Time: 25 minutes
Rating: 4(933)
Comments: Read comments

Bubbling sage leaves in olive oil until sizzling provides crisp thrills in this simple, flavorful combination of salty cheese and sweet apples, while the resulting sage-scented oil melds with honey and lemon to create a herbaceous dressing. Mild, leafy butter lettuce helps tie it all together, but slightly bitter chicories like frisée, escarole or endive would work well, too. This salad makes a fun sidekick for main proteins like Buttermilk-Brined Roast Chicken, Porchetta Pork Chops or store-bought sausages or rotisserie chicken.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

¼ cup olive oil
25medium to large sage leaves
Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and pepper
2tablespoons honey
2teaspoons Dijon mustard
⅓cup lemon juice (from 2 to 3 lemons)
1medium shallot, finely chopped (about ¼ cup)
1pound sweet and crisp apples (such as Honeycrisp or Cripps Pink, 2 to 3 medium)
6ounces aged white Cheddar, chopped or sliced into bite-size pieces
¼cup chopped parsley
2small or medium heads butter lettuce, leaves torn (about 6 loosely packed cups)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan or pot over medium until the oil is hot enough to make a sample sage leave sizzle immediately, about 3 minutes. Working in batches, place the sage leaves in the hot oil, moving them with a fork or spoon to help them fry evenly, and cook until the oil stops bubbling and leaves crisp up, about 1 minute. Transfer the sage leaves to a paper-towel-lined plate and season with salt and pepper; repeat with remaining sage leaves.
Step 2
Remove the saucepan from the heat then stir in the honey and Dijon mustard until combined; set aside to cool.
Step 3
Mix the lemon juice and shallot together in a large bowl. Slice the apples into ¼-inch wedges, toss with the shallot and lemon juice and season with ½ teaspoon salt. Add the Cheddar and parsley and toss to coat.
Step 4
Once the sage-honey oil has cooled until just warm, pour into the bowl with the apples and Cheddar, toss well to coat. Gently fold in the lettuce. The Cheddar and apples will be pesky and fall to the bottom of the bowl, but scoop as much as you can to arrange them on top of the lettuce. Top with whole or crushed sage leaves and serve immediately.

Ratings

4 out of 5

933 user ratings

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Comments

Mike in Indy2 years ago

Use plenty of sage. This recipe has quite a few steps, but excellent for a Sunday dinner, especially if you have a pot roast or a roasted chicken in the oven and have a bit of time to kill. Won’t taste like anything you have made since last Winter. Welcome to Autumn.

Debnev2 years ago

I like the idea of this, but I think it needs some tweaks. For one thing, when I added the honey mustard to the sage pan, even though it was off the heat for a couple of minutes, it was still too hot and the honey seized up like candy. I had to toss it and start over. Next time I would cut the apples to bitesized pieces, and use less lemon. I would also bump up the sage, as Mike in Indy suggests. I couldn't taste it. I added some chopped glazed pecans to the salad and think they were a good fit.

Kris PA2 years ago

Mainemom, I’ve had good results spreading lightly salted sage leaves on a baking pan and letting them toast in the oven at moderate heat till fragrant. Then turn heat off and let residual heat finish crisping. No oil necessary. A convection oven would be nice I imagine. They will be fragile, but I prefer crispy to chewy oily. I don’t have an air fryer….anybody?

Anne4 months ago

Used the stems in the oil heat up it will give a more sage flavour then strain

Rachel in Trout Lake5 months ago

Love this salad and agree with the suggestion to just salt and toast the sage leaves for like 90 seconds. They stay crispy and you get the flavor without the mess and effort of frying the leaves.

Cassy6 months ago

It made for a nice presentation and good distribution to put the lettuce down on a platter and pour the dressing from the apple bowl over the lettuce. I piled the apple mixture on the top and served the fried sage and toasted walnuts on the side. One more note - I had extra sage so after frying a batch in olive oil, I tried another batch in the airfryer. We preferred the taste of the ones fried with olive oil.

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