This lovely vacation salad is bejeweled with pomegranate arils, mandarin oranges, feta cheese, candied nuts and essentially the most scrumptious dressing ever!
I really like having a stunning salad in my recipe repertoire for the vacations.
It rounds out a vacation meal so completely – each in appears and with scrumptious, contemporary flavors!
Vacation Salad Components
This salad makes use of each combined salad greens and romaine for the bottom. I just like the heft and crunch that the romaine offers to the tender salad greens.
The salad add-ins are tasty and fairly!
- pomegranate arils (can sub in dried cranberries or cherries)
- crumbled feta cheese (can sub in one other favourite cheese, like shaved Parmesan)
- mandarin oranges (I take advantage of canned oranges which have been drained and patted dry – can sub in segmented contemporary mandarin oranges)
- candied pecans or walnuts (can sub in sliced almonds)
As you possibly can see, this salad is absolutely adaptable based mostly on the time of 12 months you make it and your style preferences! Nonetheless, the way in which you see the salad within the submit is my favourite option to take pleasure in it! I really like the tangy feta, candy and spicy pecans, juicy oranges and tart pomegranate arils. SO GOOD.
A Be aware About Candied Pecans
My favourite recipe to make use of for the candied pecans is that this oven-baked recipe. The pecans prove completely each time. It’s foolproof and simple! I omit the cinnamon and add a pinch of cayenne pepper for a candy/spicy kick.
The skillet model from this romaine salad recipe additionally works nicely in case you are searching for a faster recipe.
For both technique, the pecans could be made a pair weeks upfront and saved in a tightly lined container.
Balsamic Salad Dressing
The dressing for this vacation salad is straightforward and so tasty.
Mel’s Tip: use a light-colored vinegar within the dressing recipe! A darkish balsamic vinegar will overpower the flavors within the salad.
My desire is to make use of a white balsamic. A fruit-flavored white balsamic will work nicely, too! It’s also possible to use white wine or crimson wine vinegar.
This salad isn’t closely dressed. The dressing is gentle and refreshing and a bit goes a great distance!
Rave Evaluations for This Vacation Salad
My youngsters LOVE this salad. I lately made it for dinner with grilled hen on the aspect, and my 17-year outdated son was scraping each final little bit of salad out of the serving bowl after his third serving to.
A number of of us would have perhaps challenged him on that with the intention to get the final dregs ourselves, however he’s a highschool wrestler, and in case you didn’t know…life lesson #187 states that you simply by no means get in the way in which of a highschool wrestler and his meals throughout highschool wrestling season.
This vacation salad comes collectively extremely quick (the candied pecans and dressing could be made per week upfront!) and is sure to be a crowd pleaser everytime you select to serve it!
I hope you like it!
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Vacation Salad with Balsamic Dressing
Yield: 6 -8 servings
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Complete Time: 25 minutes
Salad:
- 6 ounces (3-4 cups) combined salad greens
- 6 ounces (3-4 cups) chopped romaine
- 2 (11-ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained and oranges patted dry (see observe)
- ½ to 1 cup crumbled feta cheese (see observe)
- ½ to 1 cup pomegranate arils (can sub dried cranberries or cherries)
- ½ to 1 cup candied pecans or walnuts (see observe)
Dressing:
- ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar or crimson wine vinegar (see observe)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (or honey)
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon salt
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Evenly toss all of the salad elements collectively in a bowl (make certain the mandarin oranges are dried nicely).
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Whisk or mix the salad dressing elements collectively till well-combined.
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Drizzle the salad dressing over the whole salad and toss to mix OR serve the dressing on the aspect for particular person servings.
Mandarin Oranges: rather than the canned mandarin oranges, you possibly can slice and phase 2-3 small contemporary mandarin oranges for the salad.
Feta Cheese: crumbling feta cheese from the block vs shopping for already crumbled feta is a sport changer. It’s worlds creamier and tremendous scrumptious (most grocery shops carry it within the specialty cheese part).
Candied Pecans: my favourite recipe to make use of for the candied pecans is that this oven-baked recipe – it’s extra foolproof than skillet recipes. I omit the cinnamon and add a pinch of cayenne pepper for a candy/spicy kick. For a skillet model, I take advantage of the one from this romaine salad recipe. The pecans could be made a pair weeks upfront and saved in a tightly lined container.
Vinegar: my desire for the salad dressing is a light-colored vinegar like white balsamic or white wine vinegar (I’ve used a fruit-flavored white balsamic, too, with nice outcomes!). Purple wine vinegar may even work.
Serving: 1 serving, Energy: 183kcal, Carbohydrates: 14g, Protein: 3g, Fats: 14g, Saturated Fats: 3g, Ldl cholesterol: 8mg, Sodium: 212mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 10g
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