Spinach-Cranberry Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette

When trying to think of a salad for my dinner party, I immediately looked at the various salads served at my place of mentorship, The Avocado House. There, we have a delicious spinach salad with raspberry vinaigrette, dressed with decadent ingredients such as bacon, feta, and candied pecans. I made some changes to the salad based off of what I had at my disposal and what I wanted to incorporate, so here is my version of a wonderful fall salad:

Vinaigrette
I've never made a vinaigrette before, so I looked at multiple recipes for both basic vinaigrette and specific apple cider ones. My biggest influence can be found here or on page 180 of the Michael Ruhlman book Ratio.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Apple cider vinegar
• 3 tbs. Dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup Extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 Canola oil
• 1 minced shallot
• 1 cinnamon stick

Procedure:

Whisk together apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, and honey in mixing bowl. Very slowly (almost drop by drop), add both oils to mixture to emulsify; I don't like to use a blender because it's easier to accidentally over mix with one of those. Make sure your whisking is continuous and to add only little by little. Your product should appear creamy.

Pour emulsified mixture into a container, maybe mason jar or dressing glass, and add shallots and cinnamon stick. Shake well and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Here is a (blurry) photo of the finished product. I was so busy
entertaining/being entertained by guests that it was the only
photo I took of the dish.

Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. Spinach
• 1/2 cup cubed apples
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup bacon bits
• 1/4 cup blue cheese

Place spinach in bowl. Add apples, cranberries, bacon, and cheese. Toss well and drizzle with apple cider vinaigrette.

I actually had several very picky guests (including my 8 year old little brother) who voiced a disapproval for multiple ingredients. To appease the youngest of my guests, I opted for more of a salad bar service, in which I served a large bowl of spinach surrounded by various small bowls of the other toppings. Most of my guests ate the salad as intended, but this way they all got various amounts! One took a lot of bacon while another girl had more apple than spinach! It made the experience more unique to the guest.