Tuesday, January 15, 2019

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! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sharing at 

28 comments:

  1. I am always looking for salad recipes...this one looks wonderful! One of my goals for the new year is to incorporate more greens into my diet...thanks for the recipe! Love and hugs!

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    1. It's all I could do not to rush to the market for more greens Benita! I'm trying to control myself....and also do shopping once a month, so there's that!

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  2. It sounds like you really enjoyed the salad! Great recipe!

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    1. Oh I loved it, Pilar, but so did everyone else, it wasn't just me - they all said it was the best salad ever!

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  3. Sounds yummy. I love beets, so I really need to try this.

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    1. I never did love them, Penny, until now!! I grew them because my sweetie loves them....but this salad has changed my mind!

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  5. I get tired of plain old green salads with tomato, cucumber and onion and am always looking for something to add to give it a little pizazz. Roasted beets sound like a wonderful addition.

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    1. I would get tired of those salads too, Sue. Meanwhile my mom could eat that every day, and she and Dad often did in the summer months. I grow cukes in the summer along with tomatoes, onions, lettuce, and other veggies but for some reason I seem to tire of cucumbers quicker than other veggies. Fresh tomatoes, however, never get boring!

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  6. Not a fan of beets, but anything with cranberries and Gorgonzola gets my vote.

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    1. Neither am I, Carole, which is why this salad surprised me so much! Even my daughter thought it was amazing, and she doesn't like beets any more than I do!

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  7. Hi Debbie! Oh, honey, that looks and sounds so yummy! I'm not a fan of beets but my hubby sure is. I could not eat those little boogers! Hope all is well with you and Happy New Year!
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia :)

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    1. You could always serve the beets on the side for hubby, Shelia...I've done that with other salads, but for some reason this time I tossed them right in and I am now a convert!

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  8. Looks both healthy and delicious!
    Brenda

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    1. I must be getting like you, Brenda, because I could eat this every night!

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  9. I wished I liked fruits in my salad and vinegar dressings . Looks so good though!!!
    My husband would love this!
    Lisa

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  10. This sounds excellent. I love all the ingredients. Perfect for company too to serve with dinner

    Cindy

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  11. This looks so yummy and has all of my favorite salad ingredients. I am going to the store later for groceries and will get things to make this up. I am a big salad person. Yum. Thanks for sharing.
    Hugs,
    Kris

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    1. I hope you love it, Kris! Sweetie picked up some more salad greens for me today so I can make this again!

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  12. I love eating a big salad for lunch and I'm always putting different ingredients in it. I love toasted nuts in my salad! I'll have to pass on the beets though...there are only two vegetables I just cannot stand and one is beets. The other is mushrooms. My hubby loves beets though, so I buy them from the farmer's market when they're in season and then I roast them for him. ;-)

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    1. See, I don't like beets or mushrooms either, Melanie! Yet I loved this salad!

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  13. It sounds amazingly delicious and healthy. I don't have the energy to entertain much because of CFS but this would be great. Nancy

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  14. I love a good salad, and this one sounds delicious. I have all of the ingredients except the red onion, something I am still kicking myself over, because I failed to put it and cilantro on my list when I went to the market today, and with snow coming this weekend I am not going back. I may just try to make balsamic onions using one of the yellow onions I have and see how it works. We seem to be on a similar wavelength. I made my mother’s Mandarin orange salad today, and marveled at how good it tasted.

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    1. No doubt any onion would be just fine, Pattie - and I hope you share the recipe for your mom's Mandarin orange salad, I'd love to try it!!

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