A few weeks ago, I went to book club where that month's host made this salad and served it alongside two different kinds of quiche. We all raved about the meal and she promised to send us the recipes. A few days later the recipes appeared in my inbox and I set out to make this salad on Halloween as part of a yummy soup & salad dinner with our friends Mike & Maggie and my sister Julia.

With the apples and the cranberry vinaigrette, this is the quintessential Fall salad. I followed the recipe exactly this time, but next time I think I'll add some feta cheese. While delicious as is, a little bit of feta would've made this even better! The cranberry vinaigrette is perfect--well worth the effort for homemade dressing. Enjoy!


One Year Ago: Tuna Chickpea Salad with Pesto


Apple Walnut Salad
from Julie


Ingredients:
-1/4 cup red wine vinegar
-1/4 cup fresh cranberries
-2 tbsp honey
-1 tbsp sugar
-1 tbsp chopped red onion
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper
-3/4 cup vegetable oil
-2 packages (10 oz. total) spring mix salad greens
-2-3 medium Red Delicious apples, thinly sliced
-1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Directions:
1. To make vinaigrette, combine the first seven ingredients (red wine vinegar through pepper) in a blender and process until blended. Add vegetable oil in small increments while blending. Process until smooth.
2. Toss dressing with spring mix, apples, and walnuts. Serve immediately.

I'm down to three cans of pumpkin in my pantry, but I'm not sick of pumpkin yet! I haven't even made my favorite pumpkin soup this season! I'll be restocking soon and continuing to test out new pumpkin recipes and repeat some of my favorites. These enchiladas were a new recipe that quickly turned a favorite. Unlike most enchiladas, these are stuffed with healthy ingredients and light on the cheese. While they're anything but traditional, they were awesome! The sauce and filling have a little bit of heat from the jalapeno, so be sure to use less than the recipe calls for if you're sensitive to spice. Don't like kidney beans? You could easily substitute your favorite: pinto, black, even white!

Another reason I loved this recipe was because I could prepare it ahead of time. If you don't have time to make it all at once, make the filling and sauce a day ahead of time, refrigerate overnight, and then assemble just before baking. I also split the below recipe into two baking pans; we ate one for dinner and the other is in the freezer, waiting to be pulled out on a night I don't feel like cooking.

If you're intimidated by the sound of this meal, don't be. It sounds a little crazy (not to mention, not exactly photogenic), and it's definitely not your standard Mexican food, but it got two thumbs up from both Ryan and me!


One Year Ago: Crockpot Salsa Chicken


Kale & Bean Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce
adapted from Veggie by Season

Ingredients:
for the enchiladas-
-2 cloves garlic
-1 small yellow onion, chopped
-1 tbsp olive oil
-1/2 jalapeno, finely diced
-1 tsp ground cumin
-1 zucchini, grated
-salt & pepper
-1 bunch kale, roughly chopped
-1 can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
-1/3 cup fresh cilantro, minced

for the sauce-
-1 can pumpkin
-2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
-3 garlic cloves, peeled
-1 jalapeno pepper, quartered (ribs & seeds removed)
-1 tsp chili powder
-2 tbsp tomato paste

to assemble-
-corn tortillas (I made 14 enchiladas)
-approximately 1 cup Mexican shredded cheese

Directions:
1. In a skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil, garlic, onions, jalapeno, zucchini, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook for approximately 5 minutes.
2. Add kale and stir, cooking until soft (approximately 5 additional minutes).
3. To make the pumpkin sauce, add all sauce ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth.
4. Add a few tablespoons of the sauce to the kale mixture along with a few shakes of black pepper, the beans, and the cilantro.
5. To assemble and cook:  Preheat oven to 400F. Pour 1-1 1/2 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a baking dish (I split mine up into two dishes--an 8x8 dish and another small casserole dish, with 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of each). Spoon kale mixture into tortillas. Roll tortillas and place, seam-side down, in the baking pan. Repeat until pan is full & the filling is gone.
6. Top tortillas with sauce and shredded cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.

This post is linked to Eat at Home.