Harvest Turkey Salad with Cherry Vinaigrette
Fabulous Panera Bread copycat recipe. This lovely salad is filled with dried cherries, pears, toasted pecans, grilled chicken or turkey and feta or gorgonzola cheese. Serve with Cherry Vinaigrette. Gluten free.
Ingredients
HARVEST TURKEY SALAD:
- 1 large bag spring/field mix
- 1/2 bag Romaine lettuce cut in bite-size pieces
- 2 large pears unpeeled
- 1 cup pecans or walnuts toasted
- 1-2 cups grilled chicken or turkey breast sliced
- 1 cup dried cherries
- 8 oz. feta cheese we prefer feta cheese over Gorgonzola
- lemon juice as needed
CHERRY VINAIGRETTE:
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/4 cup smucker's cherry preserves
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- salt to taste
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
HARVEST TURKEY SALAD:
- Layer lettuces in large salad bowl.
- Add dried cherries.
- Core and dice pears and swish in a small bowl of lemon juice to prevent discoloration.
- Add on top of other salad ingredients.
- Toast pecans or walnuts in oven or toaster oven at 350 for about 5-10 minutes.
- Add toasted nuts on top.
- Sprinkle with feta or gorgonzola cheese.
- Add grilled chicken or turkey breast, sliced or cubed.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Serve with Cherry Vinaigrette.
CHERRY VINAIGRETTE:
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the balsamic vinegar, sugar and garlic and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar.
- Simmer the mixture, uncovered, until reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
- Add the cherry preserves and cook for 1 minute longer.
- Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
- Whisk in the red wine vinegar followed by the canola oil.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Set aside.
- Serve over Harvest Turkey Salad.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Panera Bread at Home.
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