Roasted Fall Fruits...

I have been indulging myself with apples and pears since they are available locally now, and although simply enjoying a nice juicy apple or pear by itself is delicious, I enjoy incorporating them into my salads as well!  Which is why I made a simple salad of roasted apples, pears and figs! This is one of those simple salads that is increadibly good!  Nothing complicated here, which is exactly what I wanted since I was hungry when I started making this, but I wanted something as good as a salad I would order in a restaurant.  I used some bitter greens, dandilion, mizuna and arugula, threw in some shallots, and dressed the salad with a tangy honey vinaigrette.  It wouldn't be complete however without some form of nut, so I added some honeyed pecans.  I love a good crunchy salty sweet nut on a salad with fruit!  The roasting brought out another dimension to the fruit that it didn't have when raw, as delicious as it was...the flavors were intensified, and the sweetness brought out.  It was as good as something I could have paid a lot of money for in a restaurant somewhere, but I was able to enjoy it in the comfort of my own home for a lot cheaper.  I will definately be making this quite a few more times before the local fruit is no longer avalible.  Try this out while fall fruits are in season! 

Roasted Fig, Apple and Pear Salad with Honeyed Pecans

Serves 3

Honeyed Pecans:

1/2 cup pecans

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp maple sugar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 bartlett pear, cut into wedges

1 honeycrisp apple, cut into wedges

10 mission figs, halved

peanut oil

Dressing:
1 Tbsp Peanut oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

5 cups mixed flavorful greens such as arugula, mizuna and dandilion
1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil, and spray with nonstick spray. Toss pecans with honey, maple sugar and sea salt and spread out on one of the sheets. Roast in the oven until fragrant and starting to brown, about 7-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Increase the oven temp to 475, and place rack in the top position. Toss figs apple, and pearwith a just enough peanut oil to coat and spred out on other baking sheet and roast for about 15-20 minutes until softened but not mushy. When done roasting, remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Combine greens, shallots, and roasted fruit in a large bowl, pour dressing over, and toss with hands to coat. Divide salad between 3 plates and top with toasted nuts.