Its that apple time of the year, and only is this easy salad seasonal – its delicious as well. We were thrilled to get a shipment of Live Gourmet‘s romaine. The romaine is special as it has no “heart”. That’s a GOOD thing because you can enjoy every leaf as a crunchy scoop.

By using the lettuce as the wrap rather than a carbohydrate rich bread, pita, or roll, you are saving calories and adding more Calcium, Iron, B Vitamins and protein to your meal. Believe it or not, romaine lettuce has 7.7 grams of protein / head of lettuce. It also has 16% of your daily water intake. So although drinking fluids is very imporant for health, you can also eat foods (like this romaine lettuce) to stay hydrated in your day.

The homemade dressing adds pop to the dish while bringing health benefits of its own. Because of the blend of spices in Garam Masala, it can help fights disease and builds immunity, and help increase the ability to absorb vitamins, minerals, and proteins – the nutrients in the lettuce wrap are better absorbed because of this flavorful spice blend.

What’s not to like in this fun salad? (We bet your kids will eat it up too!) Here’s the recipe that Nancy developed to showcase fall apples and the delicious lettuce.

Romaine Wrap with Crunchy Apple Salad

½ Cup Plain Greek Yogurt

2 TB Orange Juice

2 TB Orange Zest

1/2 Tsp *Garam Masala

1 Cup Grated Carrot

½ Cup Chopped Celery

1 Red Apple, Cored, Chopped

2 Green Apples, Cored, Chopped

1 Cup Red Seedless Grapes, Halved

½ Cup Golden Raisins (or chopped dates)

½ Cup Chopped Roasted and Salted Cashews

1 Head Live Gourmet Living Baby Romaine

Step One Mix the yogurt, orange juice, orange zest and Garam Masala in a small bowl to blend. (You can prepare this dressing up to a day ahead of time)

Step Two Add the grated carrot, diced celery, diced apples, halved grapes, raisins or dates and cashews to a bowl. Add the dressing to salad and toss.

Step Three

Cut the roots off of the head of the Live Gourmet Living Baby Romaine and lay a leaf out flat. Place a couple of tablespoons of the salad in the leaf and repeat with the remaining leaves.

*Garam Masala is a aromatic spice blend from India. Full of flavor from spices like cardamom, coriander, cumin, turmeric and cinnamon, you can find it in the spice rack of almost any grocery store.