Holiday Salad with Balsamic Dressing

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 to be like and with scrumptious, recent flavors!

Vacation Salad Elements

This salad makes use of each blended salad greens and romaine for the bottom. I just like the heft and crunch that the romaine provides 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 were drained and patted dry – can sub in segmented recent mandarin oranges)
• candied pecans or walnuts (can sub in sliced almonds)

As you possibly can see, this salad is actually adaptable primarily based on the time of yr you make it and your style preferences! Nevertheless, the way in which you see the salad within the publish is my favourite option to get pleasure from it! I really like the tangy feta, candy and spicy pecans, juicy oranges and tart pomegranate arils. SO GOOD.

A Word 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 properly if you’re on the lookout for a faster recipe.

For both technique, the pecans might be made a pair weeks upfront and saved in a tightly coated 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 properly, too! You may as well use white wine or purple wine vinegar.

This salad isn’t closely dressed. The dressing is gentle and refreshing and a bit of goes a good distance!

Rave Evaluations for This Vacation Salad

My children LOVE this salad. I not too long ago made it for dinner with grilled rooster on the facet, and my 17-year previous 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 possibly challenged him on that so as 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 just 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 might be made per week upfront!) and is sure to be a crowd pleaser everytime you select to serve it!

I hope you like it!

One Yr In the past: Pumpkin Rosemary Dinner Rolls 
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Three Years In the past: Pressure Cooker Lasagna Soup {+ Stovetop Directions}
4 Years In the past: Delicious Cranberry Pear Crumble
5 Years In the past: Buttery, Flaky Make-Ahead Overnight Crescent Dinner Rolls {No Kneading/No Stand Mixer} 
Six Years In the past: Skillet Honey Garlic Chicken {20-Minute Meal}
Seven Years In the past: Stuffed Apple and Bacon Sweet Potato Casserole
Eight Years In the past: Warm Russian Tea
9 Years In the past: Smoky Corn Chowder 
Ten Years In the past: Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

Vacation Salad with Balsamic Dressing

Yield: 6 -8 servings

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Complete Time: 25 minutes

Salad:

• 6 ounces (3-4 cups) blended salad greens
• 6 ounces (3-4 cups) chopped romaine
• 2 (11-ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained and oranges patted dry (see word)
• ½ to 1 cup crumbled feta cheese (see word)
• ½ to 1 cup pomegranate arils (can sub dried cranberries or cherries)
• ½ to 1 cup candied pecans or walnuts (see word)

Dressing:

• ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar or purple wine vinegar (see word)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (or honey)
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon salt

• Evenly toss all of the salad elements collectively in a bowl (be certain that the mandarin oranges are dried properly).

• Whisk or mix the salad dressing elements collectively till well-combined.

• Drizzle the salad dressing over the whole salad and toss to mix OR serve the dressing on the facet for particular person servings.

Mandarin Oranges: rather than the canned mandarin oranges, you possibly can slice and section 2-3 small recent 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 might be made a pair weeks upfront and saved in a tightly coated 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 will 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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