Spring Fruit and Feta Salad

When my husband and I lived in Cleveland, we had a great group of friends. Well, we still have that great group of friends, we are all just scattered across the globe now that we're all done with graduate school. Anyway, one of my favorite memories from Cleveland are the barbecues we used to have. And we had a barbecue for pretty much any occasion- baby showers, birthdays, last day of school, Saturdays.... and we had lots of food! It was insane how much we ended up with. It was BYOM (Bring Your Own Meat) plus a side.

One of my favorite (like of ALL time) sides was a salad my friend Janean would bring. The first time she made it, I asked her for the recipe and then I made it all the time. All. The. Time. It's one of those perfect summer salads that goes great with any holiday or get together. It gets tons of compliments when I bring it anywhere. And I love finding excuses to make it!

I promise I will take a better picture when I make it this weekend for Easter!

Spring Fruit and Feta Salad

by Girls in Aprons

Quick note about this salad- It is completely up to you how much of everything you add to it. I've added how much I usually add, but you can totally add more or less depending on taste or what you have on hand.

2 bags salad- "Spring Mix" works best
2 cups pecans
1/2 cup sugar
Strawberries, sliced (about 1 heaping cup)
Grapes, quartered (about 1 heaping cup)
Feta (a small tub)
Craisins (1/2 cup or so)

Dressing:
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (optional)
2 Tbsp apple cider or white vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Combine salad ingredients to your liking. For pecans, melt sugar with pecans in a pan on low until sugar melts and crystallizes (see note at bottom). Watch closely, as this will burn quickly after it melts. Mix dressing ingredients and shake well in a container. Pour on salad just before serving.

(**Note: You can buy candied pecans at the store to save you time and a headache. Seriously, I hate making my own candied pecans. Trader Joe's sells a bag of Candied Pecans that is to DIE for! Just break them up and add to the salad!)