Lots of family in town last night for a visit – my sister in law with the two grandchildren she is babysitting for the weekend and my niece (same sister in law’s daughter!), her husband and baby, Mason who we got to finally meet! And then of course Courtney and Jaren came over for a visit too so feeding a crowd.  All the recipes for the dinner came from MyRecipes.com.  This salad looks kind of boring probably because I forgot to put the dressing on it before I took the picture but it is really easy and tasty too, something you could throw together quickly if needed.

1/2 cup walnut pieces

2 Granny Smith apples or other tart apples, cored, halved and thinly sliced

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons minced shallots

1 teaspoon sugar

salt and pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

8 cups mixed salad greens (I used a head each of green leaf and red leaf lettuce)

1/2 cup craisins (the recipe didn’t call for these but I added some in)

1 Preheat oven to 350.  Spread walnut pieces on a baking sheet.  Bake 5 – 8 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes,  until just toasted.  Pour into a bowl to cool.

2  Place apples in bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon vinegar.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together remaining vinegar, mustard, shallot and sugar and season with salt and pepper.  Whisking constantly, drizzle in olive oil and continue to whisk until smoothly blended.

3  Place greens, apples and walnuts in a large bowl and toss with dressing before serving.