Shades of Green Salad

This is the season when all good New Yorkers pick apples!

Like little red beacons, they beckon for us to leave our stone towers, the traffic noise, and the congestion behind and spend a day scrambling around an upstate farm, fantasizing about the pleasures of rural living. We buy apple cider, have lunch at a quaint little cafe named something like "Suzy's Kitchen," and maybe taste some too-sweet local wine. Then we pull out our iphones and obsess about the quickest route back to the city, where we admire our apples, google some recipes and go out to dinner somewhere fancy and "urban."

Then, over the next week or so, we bake some pie or cake, bring the neighbors some fresh picked apples and wonder about what else to do with our bottomless bag of shiny little fruits.

Which is my way of saying that there will be a few apple recipes coming your way in the next few days!

Today I made salad, where the apples were supporting characters, rather than the stars of the recipe. But they were essential nonetheless, adding sweetness and crunch. I always forget how much I love watercress, but the big bunches at the co-op this week reminded me. Use any lettuce, or combination of lettuces you like though.

Shades of Green Salad

romaine lettuce, washed, dried and chopped

watercress, trimmed and washed

avocado (i use 1/2 per person if it's a meal salad, less if it's an appetizer)

apple

sliced almonds, toasted

Sherry Vinaigrette

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

2 tblsp. dry sherry

3 tblsp. maple syrup

1/2 clove garlic, chopped

salt

pepper

Whisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Pour into a sealed container and leave in the fridge overnight. Remove the garlic the next day.

Toss the lettuces with the apples with as much dressing as desired. Garnish with avocado and almonds and serve immediately.