Romaine Apple Walnut Salad

This is my absolute favorite fall salad - on evenings when I'd much rather watch football than cook. And in apple season! The first time I had this was in California, ironically not in Fall - but in February visiting the husband in San Francisco (but then again, winter in california is really fall for michiganders, yes?). I'll list my version of the salad, with notes on the original salad I ate.

What you'll need for the salad:
1. Romaine hearts (chopped to 1" wide pieces approximately)
2. 1 Apple (crisp - like Braeburn, Pink Lady or Gala or Granny Smith) - cut into very very thin slices.
3. Walnuts
4. White cheddar (either crumbled or grated - Busch's or Whole Foods will have a really nice white cheddar block around Fall that is very very affordable!)
5. Dried cranberries (optional)


For the dressing:
1 tsp of olive oil
1 tsp of sherry vinegar/apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar (the original recipe used sherry vinegar, but it's too sweet for me, so I use red wine, and if I feel particularly apple-y, apple cider vinegar)
Brown sugar

1. Toast the walnuts and coat them with brown sugar (this takes about five minutes to do on the pan - be careful not to burn the sugar, I usually lose patience and turn away to find my sugar burnt).
2. Toss the romaine, apples and walnuts in dressing!

The original recipe had white cheddar (which adds the fun mild salt component) , red-wine poached apples and romaine - I tried the poached version once (and decided never to do that again).