Apple, Hazelnut and Cheddar Salad

Ingredients

• ½ cup raw hazelnuts, skins removed
  
• 1 Tablespoon butter
  
• good sea salt
  
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  
• 2 teaspoons honey (I used Savannah Bee Co.’s Cheese Honey)
  
• 3 Tablespoons hazelnut oil
  
• Freshly ground pepper
  
• 1 granny smith apple, sliced as thin as possible
  
• 3 cups of Boston bibb lettuce, washed, dried and torn into pieces
  
• 2 dried calymyrna figs, roughly chopped
  
• 2 ounces of a really good, aged cheddar (I used Montegomery’s Cheddar), one that crumbles well.
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Melt butter and combine it with the hazelnuts and a couple pinches of sea salt.
3. Toast in the oven until they are nicely browned. This happens quickly. Cool completely. Put them in a plastic bag and give them a whack with a meat mallet so they are broken apart a bit.
4. In the bottom of a large bowl, combine vinegar, dry mustard, and honey. Whisk in the oil. Add pepper to taste.
5. Add the apples and lettuce to the vinaigrette and toss to coat completely.
6. Sprinkle in the hazelnuts and figs and crumble the cheddar on top and serve.