This fall salad can be served as a main dish and is the perfect combination of sweet, savory, fresh, and unctuous all at once. The maple glazed halloumi is genuinely irresistible and will easily become a staple of fall meals to come. The dressing makes itself thanks to the red wine vinegar, olive oil, and chili maple- when tossed all together it’s light and balanced and lets the ingredients really shine. This salad with pair perfectly with some pan seared or grilled chicken thighs.

A few tips – To keep things simpler and avoid turning on the oven you can always skip roasting the apples and add them in raw. Just be sure to toss them with a bit of lemon juice to prevent browning or otherwise cut them immediately before serving. Same goes for the pecans, don’t be use to buy pre-roasted if that’s your jam. For me I like to roast my own to control the salt content, plus I love the somewhat chewy bite you get with freshly roasted pecans. Another time saving time is to use quick-cooking farro, easily found at Trader Joe’s, which is ready in about 10 minutes!

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

2 large honey crisp apples, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, about 4 cups

2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more as desired

1 small shallot, thinly sliced, about 1/2 cup

1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, divided

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1/2 cup raw pecans

1 cup dry farro, cooked according to package instructions (2 cups cooked farro)

3 cups kale, cleaned and stems removed, cut into thin strips

4 ounces halloumi, cut into 1/4-inch slabs and halved

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
2. Toss the apple cubes with about a teaspoon of olive oil until lightly coated. Roast for 22-25 minutes until they begin to brown and dry slightly. Remove from oven and cool.
3. Evenly spread the pecans out onto a small sheet tray and roast for the last 3-4 minutes of the apples cooking. Remove from the oven and cool before roughly chopping and setting aside.
4. In a small bowl combine the shallot, 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, and a pinch of salt. Set aside for 10-15 minutes. Doing this ahead of time will give the shallot time to mellow out and partially pickle.
5. In a large bowl salad bowl combine the farro (preferably warm), kale, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and toss to combine. Doing this right before preparing the halloumi will give the kale time to marinade and break down slightly.
6. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the halloumi. Cook until golden brown; 2-3 minutes on the first side and 1-2 minutes on the second side. Once the halloumi is browned reduce the heat to low and add in the maple syrup and red pepper flaks and swirl the pan to coat the halloumi. Immediately remove from heat to prevent the maple hardening.
7. Add the roasted apples, pecans, and shallots with their juices to the bowl with the farro and kale. Toss well to coat and season with the remaining 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, more olive oil, salt, and pepper as desired.
8. Top with the maple glazed halloumi and serve immediately!