Autumn Salad

If your in need of something light and fabulous tasting then this recipe is one that you have to try. It uses a lot of ingredients that a lot of people have on hand and is full of flavor. Leave off the chicken for a nice side salad or throw it on and make it a nice light meal. I love how there is so much crunch and flavor in this salad. I will definitely be having one of these for lunch again today!



My friend brought this to my house for a lunch get together and I just had to have the recipe. She had found it off of a great blog I have used a few times called SixSisterStuff. If you haven't been to their site, you should. It is awesome!
My friend also gave me a great recipe to use as a substitute for the dressing for those that need to be gluten free, dairy free, blah blah....(it will be down in my side notes). Enjoy!

*6 to 8 cups chopped romaine lettuce
*2 medium apples, chopped (pears are also delicious if you want to use those)
*1 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)
*1 cup chopped walnuts (pecans or almonds are also a yummy substitution)
*8 slices bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled (we used turkey bacon- use what you want)
*4 to 6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
*1-2 grilled chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
*3/4 cup Poppy seed Salad Dressing (I like Brianna's. For GF check below in my comments)
*1/4 cup Balsamic Vinaigrette (I used store brand because it tastes just the same to me. For GF check out the awesome recipe below)

Directions
*In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, apples, cranberries, walnuts, bacon, chicken and feta cheese.
*In a smaller bowl, combine poppy seed dressing with balsamic vinaigrette. Drizzle over salad right before serving. If you prefer your salad to have more dressing, feel free to experiment with the combination.

**Randi's Side Notes**
~When I made this I personally just used the ingredient list and made a small salad for myself. Just add as much as you like of everything. And I had some leftover shredded chicken from a Costco chicken so I just used that.
~Diet Friends. You could replace the craisins with strawberries, use turkey bacon, and leave off the feta cheese. Also, for the first while during the diet make sure you just use a homemade balsamic vinaigrette and then when you think you can have the pure cane maple syrup, you could try using this awesome homemade Poppyseed balsamic dressing.
1/2 cup pure cane maple syrup
1/3 cup olive oil or natural applesauce
1/2 cup lite rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar
3 TBSP onion
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, Gluten free
1/4 tsp paprika
1 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup water
1 TBSP poppy seeds
1 TBSP sesame seeds
Combine all ingredients EXCEPT the seeds into the blender and blend until the mixture is smooth. Finally stir in the seeds and viola!!!! A yummy, delicious perfectly clean recipe for poppyseed dressing!