Well, I guess I spoke too soon about the weather cooling off. It’s been cooler, yes… but we’ve still gotten well up into the 80’s for a couple of days this week. It’s been nice for the most part, crips mornings, warm days, and cool evenings to follow. And while I’m completely set on Fall and Winter meals now, I still needed to toss in a light salad into the mix this week.

I’m calling this the ‘rustica salad’ because that’s the name of the salad that I got the idea for this one from. Of course, I had to put my own spin on it with a homemade dressing and plenty of toppings. The homemade Skinny Balsamic Vinaigrette is one of my favorites. I make a double or triple batch of it up at a time and keep it on hand in the fridge quite often.

Outside of the dressing, this salad starts off with a mix of baby greens. I chose to go with baby spinach and baby arugula for it’s spice. But, you could use any baby green or green mix that you desire. On top of that there’s some thinly sliced (or even shaved) fennel, along with a few of the feathery leaves from the fennel. Fennel is one of my newer salad favorites. It’s got a unique flavor that’s all it’s own, bold but still light enough to not take everything else over.

Then there’s the goat cheese crumbles, dried cranberries, and of course some roughly chopped pecans. I thought the cranberries and the pecans really gave the salad a more festive Fall touch while still being a light and simple salad.

This is a small salad and more so intended to be part of a meal. I served mine with a nice big bowl of asiago bisque and couldn’t have been any more satisfied than I was. If you wanted to make this into more of a meal, try adding in a protein. A grilled chicken breast on top would be just about perfect!

Looking for a meal prep friendly salad, then this one is for you. Just store the salad separate from the dressing until you’re about to enjoy it.

Step-by-Step Photos:

Nutritional Claims: Kidney Friendly • Vegetarian • Pescatarian • Gluten Free • Wheat Free • Egg Free • Peanut Free • Soy Free • Fish Free • Shellfish Free • Pork Free • Red Meat Free • Crustacean Free • Celery Free • Mustard Free • Sesame Free • Lupine Free • Mollusk Free • Alcohol Free • Kosher