Winter Salad & Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing

Eating salad outside of the summer months can be difficult but not with Winter Salad & Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing. Big flavors and warm dressing will get salad back on your menu with a bang!

This delicious recipe was originally published in November 2014 and has been updated January 2018! 

I’m not exactly sure what happens when winter sets in regarding eating fresh salads but it feels like an oxymoron. Slow Cookers andInstant Pots percolate away rendering hearty vegetable mixtures but eating a salad has seemed best left for May and later. Until now.

Salad in the winter when not eating it often, is like an oasis of sorts. We all need our greens a cold, light salad isn’t what we crave in the cold winter months. There is a trick to get around this: big flavor and warm temperatures!

Beautiful, pink Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing is full of healthy ingredients and vibrant flavors that blend perfectly. It will perk up the most ordinary of salad ingredients and is a great option for winter holiday salads.

How to Get Excited about Eating Winter Salad

When making winter salad, combining seasonal fruits and vegetables creates exciting flavors and is visually beautiful; the latter makes winter salad enticing (‘we eat with our eyes first’ really is true). Winter produce has deeper flavor so the sweetness of fruit, some bitter greens, crunch from seeds or nuts combine for a tasty, satisfying recipe.

This winter salad recipe makes two side salads or one entree salad. It can be doubled or quadrupled if serving a group.

How to make Winter Salad & Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing – Step by Step:

Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing is a favorite to dress up any winter salad. Made with fresh cranberries, honey, shallots, apple cider vinegar and grapeseed oil, it is not only a beautiful presentation but full of antioxidants, polyunsatured fats and Vitamin E (great for our parched skin and hair in the winter months).

The dressing is easy to prepare in a blender and dress whatever suits your mood. It is warmed briefly before serving for the best flavor. Keep the dressing handy in the refrigerator to dress simple greens to keep those salads coming (having a great dressing makes all the difference in my experience). My favorite winter salad includes winter greens, pear, blackberries and roasted pepitas (pumpkin seed kernels) for a delicious bite both for the palate and the eyes.

More Easy Salad and Dressing Recipes to Try:

• Red Grape Jicama Walnut Salad with Mango-Jalapeno Poppy Seed Dressing
• 15 Salad Dressing Recipes to Get You Excited About Salad Again
• Mongolian Beef Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette

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Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing and Winter Salad

This flavor packed seasonal salad will make salad in winter something exciting!  Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing compliments spicy winter greens, sweet fruit and crunchy seeds.  It can also be made and kept in the refridgerator to dress up greens when the mood strikes.

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Keyword cranberry honey dressing, warm cranberry dressing, winter salad

Prep Time 20 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 4 side salads

Calories 321 kcal

Author Toni Dash

Ingredients

Ingredients for Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing:

• 1/4 cup fresh Cranberries
• 2 tablespoons Honey
• 3 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground Mustard (dry)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Shallots
• 1/4 cup Grapeseed Oil
• Kosher Salt and Ground Black Pepper to taste

Ingredients for side Winter Salad:

• 6 cups Mixed Greens (prepared mixed organic greens offer many options or use your favorite lettuce)
• 2 small ripe Pears , cored and sliced thinly lengthwise
• 20 large Blackberries rinsed
• 1/2 cup Pomegranate Arils (seeds)
• 6 tablespoons roasted Pepitas (pumpkin seed kernels; available in most bulk food areas of grocery stores)

Instructions

Instructions for Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing:

1. Place all ingredients into a blender (except salt and pepper) and pulse to fully puree ingredients to emulsify the dressing. Warm for a few seconds in the microwave before dressing the salad.

Instructions for the Winter Salad:

1. Place the greens on two salad plates (or one large plate if making one entree salad). Layer the pear slices, berries, pomegranate arils and pepitas on top of the lettuce. Dress with a few tablespoons of dressing and serve.

Nutrition Facts

Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing and Winter Salad

Amount Per Serving

Calories 321 Calories from Fat 189

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 21g 32%

Saturated Fat 2g 10%

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 19mg 1%

Potassium 376mg 11%

Total Carbohydrates 31g 10%

Dietary Fiber 5g 20%

Sugars 20g

Protein 6g 12%

Vitamin A 14.1%

Vitamin C 26.7%

Calcium 2.3%

Iron 10.7%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.