The Most Incredible Winter Salad

I'm popping in with a quick post today, to share the most incredible winter salad I made on Sunday. 

Seriously, this salad is the bomb dot com. No joke. 

I wish I took more photos, but I honestly had no clue it was going to be that outrageously good. So you only get a couple of measly photos, sorry. 

Here's what you'll need for this incredible salad:

Baby spinach or other salad greens

Red onion

Roasted beets

Naval oranges

Dried cranberries

Gorgonzola

Nuts - I used sweet & spicy pepitas, but you can use walnuts, shelled pistachios, whatever you have/like

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

dijon mustard

orange juice 

salt & pepper

Ok ready? Here's how it went down. 

First, I sliced a half a red onion very thinly. I dropped the slices into a small deep bowl, and covered them with balsamic vinegar and a large pinch of salt to quick-pickle. They need at least an hour in the vinegar, but I gave them more time than that, as I went about my day. 

When it was time for dinner, I got out the bag of baby spinach and dumped it into a salad bowl. The beets were from my garden, and I had roasted, sliced, and froze them at the end of the season. Smart. They went into the salad next. 

I sliced a naval orange, and then cut the peel and any pith off the orange, and cut the orange slices into chunks. Into the bowl they went.

Next I tossed in a small handful of dried cranberries, and a sprinkle of sweet & spicy pepitas. 

Then I chopped some Gorgonzola and tossed that in as well. Then I threw in a little more....I love Gorgonzola!

I took my favorite kitchen tongs and removed the pickled onions from the balsamic and put the onions into the salad. Do not discard the balsamic!

Into the balsamic, I whisked about a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, a drizzle of olive oil, and a good sprinkle of freshly ground pepper. 

Next, I cut two tangerines in half and juiced them into the dressing, and whisked that in as well. You can use a drizzle of orange juice if you have that in the house, but I did not. 

I tossed the salad together, but served the dressing on the side, as I knew there would be leftovers and I hate the way salad is the second day when it's dressed...it gets all wilty and gross. Ewwww.

This was without a doubt one of the BEST salads I have ever eaten in my life. I could eat this every single day. And the funny thing is, I don't even really LIKE beets!!  But something about the oranges in the salad, the pickled onions, the orange juice in the dressing, it all worked with the beets so amazingly well that I will be craving this until I have it again!

I even woke up thinking about this salad this morning. Seriously, it's that good. 

Note to self: grow more beets in 2019 

Give it a try, let me know what you think! 

I served this with Ina Garten's Grilled Lemon Chicken, which I cooked sous-vide and finished on a grill pan on the stove. The combination was incredible. 

If you serve this at a dinner party your guests will be seriously impressed. 

That's my plan....next dinner party, this is on the menu!

But I honestly don't think I can wait that long! 

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