Easy Festive Holiday Salad Recipe

Growing up my mom made a mandarin orange and candied almond salad that we all loved. We had no problems finishing our salad whenever she made this. After my husband and I began dating in high school even he ate this salad and he did not like salad at all- lol! Today’s post is an updated version of my childhood favorite I call Festive Holiday Salad Recipe. This colorful and tasty holiday salad is filled with fresh mandarin oranges, homemade candied almonds and dried cranberries. On top of this is a yummy poppy seed dressing.

I’ve always loved poppy seed dressing, but I’ve always had the kind with mayo. Nothing personal against mayo because I like that too, but I wanted a dressing that didn’t use the stuff. Holiday food is already rich enough that I felt a lighter vinaigrette would be more appropriate. This recipe is what resulted in my kitchen. What I like about this recipe is that it is super tasty and easy- very important for holiday recipes. And lastly, this recipe holds its creamy emulsification for a little while instead of breaking down right away. And rather than use white sugar I opted for raw honey which is awesome in this dressing. The recipe for the Easy, Festive Holiday Salad is down below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Easy, Festive holiday salad recipe

1 head of good lettuce washed and prepared for salad

4-5 small mandarin oranges peeled and sectioned

1/2 cup of dried cranberries

Candied almonds

1 batch of Poppy seed dressing

Combine ingredients and serve immediately.

Candied Almonds

1/2 cup of sliced almonds

2 tbsps. of organic cane sugar

Combine sliced almonds and cane sugar in small sauté pan over low heat. Stirring frequently, allow sugar to melt and coat almonds. This may take 10-15 minutes. Almonds will be a dark, amber color. Remove and place on place and cool.

Poppy Seed Dressing

1/4 cup of white vinegar

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

3 tbsps. of raw honey

1/8 tsp. of sea salt

1 tsp. of dried minced onion

1/2 tsp. of poppy seeds

Combine all ingredients in a container with a lid. Shake until combined and creamy; this make take a couple of minutes with the honey. Store in refrigerator.

Tip: Make enough salad to have leftovers and serve the dressing on the side. Put leftover turkey on the salad the next day- delish!

Next week is Thanksgiving already! Where did the time go??? Enjoy your week 🙂