French Market N'Awlins Salad

 

This past February, at the ripe old age of 26, I went to Disneyland for the first time. I have to admit I was hesitant about the idea at first, thinking I'd be overwhelmed by the crowds and underwhelmed by the food - and, as you can probably guess, food is pretty much the most important part of any trip I ever go on.

Getting ready to watch the fireworks on Main Street.

Well, there were big crowds, but I guess Disneyland has the advantage of like 60 years of crowd control, so everything was extremely orderly and free flowing. Plus I had Neil, the most knowledgeable tour guide/trip coordinator/Director of Logistics with me the whole time. Here we are enjoying a terrifying rollercoaster ride:

... The expression on my face is Wwwwwwwwhy did I agree to go on this thing?? in case you're wondering.

Surprisingly, one of the best parts about Disneyland for us was the food. I've heard other people complain about the $8 hot dogs or sad slices of cheese pizza, but we ate damn good food the whole time we were there. One of the nicest (and least expensive) meals we had was at the French Market in New Orleans Square. We ordered our food cafeteria-style and then sat outside on the patio and listened to live music and split a mint julep. It was lovely.

Plus the salad I ordered was, like, my dream salad.

It's called the N'Awlins Salad, and it's a refreshing medley of sweet potato, granny smith apple, dried cherries, lentils, and candied pecans tossed in a citrus vinaigrette. Totally deluxe. Plus with all the treats I had been eating, it was nice to fill up on something more wholesome.

Ahh, Disneyland... there really, truly is something for everyone in that place (even for insatiable foodies).

 

French Market N'Awlins Salad

Makes 2 big side salads - adjust amounts to taste

Salad

1 small head of romaine lettuce

Dried cherries, about 1/3 cup

Canned lentils, drained and rinsed, about 1/3 cup

Granny smith apple, finely julienned, about 1/3 cup

Sweet potato, peeled and finely julienned, about 1/3 cup

Candied Pecans

1 cup pecan halves

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed

1/4 tsp seasoning salt

Citrus Vinaigrette

6 tablespoons olive oil (I used 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + 3 tbsp Persian Lime olive oil from Evoolution)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice

1 tablespoon honey

Salt and pepper to taste

To make the candied pecans: Add the butter and sugar together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once they've melted together and the sugar looks dissolved, stir in the pecans. Bring to a boil and cook for about a minute. Remove from heat and sprinkle seasoning salt over the pecans, stirring to coat. Tip the pecans out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread them out in a single layer. Allow to cool completely. 

To make the salad: Chop or tear up the lettuce and rinse thoroughly in a salad spinner or colander. Transfer to two salad bowls and scatter the sweet potato, apple, dried cherries, and lentils over top of each. Once the pecans have cooled, they can get scattered on top as well.

To make the vinaigrette and assemble: Whisk all the vinaigrette ingredients together in a small bowl. Drizzle over each salad and toss gently to coat. Enjoy!