Our Canadian friends are just finishing their Thanksgiving leftovers, while the rest of us in the U.S. are picking recipes for our upcoming holiday. I'm here to help you get started with a salad that will work for any feast or simple fall meal.

I have a roasted pear, walnut, and cranberry salad. Don't pooh-pooh the salad. I find the salad to be a life raft to hold onto in the middle of a heavy meal. It can help lighten the load and cut through some of the bigger dishes, thanks in part to the zippiness of the apple cider vinegar.