I was looking through the Local – a freebie newspaper supplement delivered right to our driveway full of local semi-news and fast food advertisements – and came across a nice looking salad and dressing recipe that I thought would be a nice addition to our Easter brunch table.
But first I had to try it…
Noreen Biegalski at TribLocal offered this combination featuring drained canned mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, scallions, blue cheese, and pecans. I made a few small, ermmm, adjustments to accommodate our pantry and dietary restrictions (pecans are a dinner-don’t for Rich), and I think we have a winner!
INGREDIENTS
Salad:
•8 cups spinach
•8 oz mandarin oranges, drained
•2 scallions, thinly sliced – The scallions didn’t look too, too good at the market, so I made a quick batch of balsamic roasted peppers and tossed some, diced, into the mix and had some freshly chopped yellow onion to pass on the side (raw onion is also a dinner no-no for Rich)
•1/4 cup dried cranberries or cherries
•1/3 cup chopped pecans – I thought chopped cashews a really nice substitute
•1/4 cup blue cheese – I LOVE blue cheese, but we were fresh out. How lucky for us that we had some incredible (and award winning) cheddar cheese wrapped in waxed paper in the fridge.
•I also added a bit of sliced and quartered English cucumber and some grated carrot.
Dressing:
•1/2 cup olive oil
•1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
•1 clove garlic
•1 tbsp Dijon mustard
•1 tbsp honey
•Salt and pepper, to taste
Put the garlic, mustard, honey, and vinegar in a blender and pulse to pulverize the garlic and combine well. Scrape down the sides of the blender container.
With the blender running, pour the olive through the hole in the lid in a steady stream until the dressing emulsifies. Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed.
Mix spinach (and romaine, if using) with the oranges, scallion, roasted peppers, cucumber, carrots, cashews, cheese, and dried cherries.
Toss with the dressing immediately before serving, or pass with the dressing on the side.
Nice.
This would also be nice with poppy seed dressing – just a thought.