Apple, Bacon and Pecan Salad

When my sister, a self-proclaimed non-veggie person, sent me this recipe I knew I had to try it.  I've choked down many an obligatory salad in my life in an attempt to eat healthy.  But this is a salad I can actually look forward to eating.  It uses common, easy-to-find ingredients that taste kind of like a glorified BLT when combined.  With sweet apple, salty feta, bacon, and the nutty flavor of toasted pecans, it's hard not to like this.

One night when my husband got home late from work we ate this as a late dinner after the craziness of putting the kids to bed and we couldn't stop talking about how good it was.  He even asked if he could take the rest to work the next day for lunch and commented that we should keep this salad recipe in our summer dinner rotation.

Apple, Bacon and Pecan Salad
Ingredients:
1/3 cup pecans
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 small apple, chopped\
1/3 cup dried cranberries
4 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/3 cup crumbled feta

For the dressing:
1/4 cup poppyseed dressing
1 tablespoon balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Place pecans on baking sheet in single layer and toast 3-5 minutes, until fragrant and lightly toasted.  Allow to cool and then lightly chop.

Combine and toss all salad ingredients.  For the dressing combine 1/4 cup poppyseed dressing with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinaigrette and stir well.  Drizzle over salad.