Bitter Greens Salad with Apple, Pecans and Blue Cheese and Maple Vinegarette

For a holiday party I wanted to make a tasteful leafy salad to compliment all the rich and filling dishes. This salad can definitely be a meal by itself. It's packed with fruit, nuts and cheese and the maple vinegarette helps to offset the bitterness of the radicchio in the salad. I think that this salad is pretty versatile and the apples can easily be replaced with pears or even strawberries. Also, the pecans can be substituted with walnuts and the blue cheese can be swaped with gorgonzola or feta. In addition, if you want to pack in some extra flavor you can definitely add in bits of crumbled bacon or shredded pieces of turkey!

Ingredients:
2 head torn dark lettuce
2 heads radicchio, leaves torn
1 bunch Watercress
Red onion, sliced
1 granny smith apple, sliced
1 cup of pecans, halved
1 cup blue cheese, crumbled

For dressing:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Toss together all the salad ingredients.
2. In a glass or jar, mix together all the dressing ingredients and mix quickly with a fork or knife. Drizzle in small amounts on the salad, tossing in between each drizzle.