I love great salads. And this is truly a great salad. And it has the added benefit of being an easy salad to prepare. What more could you ask for? OK, world peace comes to mind, but that ain’t going to happen in the near future. In the minds of our current leadership, our country is just FINE. But I choose to consider their definition of FINE to be the same as Ruth Zardo’s definition of the word. Ruth is a seriously crabby old woman and famous poet in Louise Penny’s mystery series featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache as the protagonist. In Ruth’s crazy world, F.I.N.E means “F – – – ed-up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Egotistical.” I think that pretty well defines our current FINE group of country leaders as well as the current state of affairs. (We all need to blow off steam sometimes. I just should never have read Heather Cox Richardson Letters from an American just before sitting down to write this preface.) But back to this wonderful recipe.

I was first introduced to this salad by our dear friend Steve. He and his husband Nich brought this to a December get-together and I have since served it to guests. Steve is a fabulous cook and I always know if it’s a Steve offering, it’s going to be delicious. Thanks again Steve for the recipe.

So next time you need to serve a dish that is sure to be enjoyed by everyone at table, this could easily become your go-to recipe.

And if you are an avid mystery reader as I am, I highly recommend the series by Louise Penny. Her writing is delightful. She has a wonderful command of language and she neither talks down to her readers or tries to impress them with words no one with less than a PhD in English has ever heard of. And her characters are human with all the failings and fumbles that are so true to all of our natures. She makes me want to be a better person just by the way she empowers her main character, Armand, to be the best person he can be. Not perfect, not fake, just a truly caring and concerned human being. And the little town that binds all these characters together. Well suffice it to say, if there really was a Three Pines, I’d be living there now. Never mind I don’t speak French. Or that I’m not Canadian. I’d learn French and I’d seek Canadian citizenship, if that’s what was required! But if you decide to read this series, start at the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start. Love and peace to all.

• ½ c. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 T. balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 T. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2/3 c. pecan halves
• 2 T. unsalted butter
• 2 T. brown sugar
• 8-10 c. baby spinach, leaves cut in half
• ¼ med. sized red onion, cut into thin slices
• 1/3 c. sweetened dried cranberries
• 1-2 apples, unpeeled, quartered, cored, and cut into small chunks (I use Honey Crisp, Cosmic Crisp, or Opel apples for this salad)

Combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, salt, and pepper in a covered glass jar. Shake jar like crazy (with lid on of course). Set aside.

To candy the nuts, melt butter in saucepan. Toss in pecans and mix till coated. Add brown sugar and cook, stirring, till the pecans are coated with the brown sugar. Remove from heat and scoop onto parchment paper to cool.

To assemble salad, toss spinach, onion, dried cranberries, and apple with dressing (shake again just before using). Top salad with candied pecans.

Note: Pears can be used instead of apple or in conjunction with apple.