it's a miracle, but I had all these ingredients in the house tonight, even the walnut oil. Okay, not the blue cheese, but I substituted feta cheese. It was really good, and I liked the idea of using raspberry jam to give the dressing some body and flavor.

Sometimes red onions can be a little bit strong, but you can rinse them in hot water and it removes some of that. Or just use white onions, or scallions.

Harvest Salad

From Allrecipes.com. Makes 6 servings.

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
1 bunch spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup dried cranberries (or diced apple)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (or feta)
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons red raspberry jam (with seeds)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/3 cup walnut oil (or light olive oil)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Arrange walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast in oven for 5 minutes, or until nuts begin to brown.
In a large bowl, toss together the spinach, walnuts, cranberries, blue cheese, tomatoes, avocado, and red onion.
In a small bowl, whisk together jam, vinegar, oil, pepper, and salt. Pour over the salad just before serving, and toss to coat.