Winter Salad & Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing

Winter Salad & Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing makes eating salad outside of the summer months something you’ll crave. Big flavors and warm dressing will get salad back on your menu with a bang!

Do you find you eat salad all summer long and as soon as late September rolls around it goes on the back burner?

It’s soup recipes for the win instead?

Slow Cookers and Instant Pots cook away making hot hearty vegetable mixtures.

But eating a salad has seems best left for May and later. Until now.

This Winter Salad recipe is one you’ll crave in the summer months.

Similar to Fennel and Orange Salad, the beautiful colors, bright, delicious flavors will have everyone running to the dinner table every time it’s served.

How to Get Excited about Eating Winter Salad

Salad in the winter, when not eating it often, is like an oasis of sorts.

We all need our greens but 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!

When making winter salad, combining seasonal fruits and vegetables creates exciting flavors and is visually beautiful,

‘We eat with our eyes first‘ really is true. The same goes for salads.

The prettier and more colorful, the more we want to eat them.

Winter produce has deeper flavor.

Combining the sweetness of fruit, some bitter greens, crunch from seeds or nuts creates an exciting, satisfying recipe.

Winter Salad Ingredients

This ingredients in this winter salad are simple.

They can be changed up to include any of your winter favorite ingredients too!

• Mixed Greens
• Pears
• Blackberries
• Pomegranate Arils (seeds)
• Pepitas (pumpkin seed kernels)

How to make Winter Salad 

• Select two salad plates (or one larger plate if for a main dish portion).
• Divide the lettuce between the plates.
• Layer with the fruit, adding the pepitas on top.
• Drizzle with a few tablespoons of dressing and serve.

How Many Does this Winter Salad Recipe Serve?

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

Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing

Beautiful, pink Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing is full of healthy ingredients.

The vibrant flavors make eating salad addictive!

It will perk up the most ordinary of salad ingredients and is a great option for winter holiday salads.

Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing is a favorite to dress up any winter salad.

It is not only a beautiful presentation but full of antioxidants, polyunsaturated fats and Vitamin E (great for our parched skin and hair in the winter months).

Dressing Ingredients

• fresh cranberries
• honey
• shallots
• apple cider vinegar
• grapeseed oil

How to Make the Cranberry Dressing

The dressing is easy to prepare in a blender. Use it for any salads as well as this winter salad.

All the ingredients (except salt and pepper) are put in a blender and pulsed to make a smooth, silky dressing.

Warm the dressing briefly before serving for the best flavor. This can be done in the microwave.

Storing the Cranberry Dressing

Keep the dressing in a sealed glass jar in the refrigerator.

Having it on hand makes it easier to add to greens or a full salad!

More Easy Dressing and Salad 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
• How to Make Raspberry Vinaigrette
• Fennel and Orange Salad

Try These Recipes too

• Cranberry Goat Cheese Party Appetizer
• Cranberry Salsa
• Candied Pecans

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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.

5 from 19 votes

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Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4 side salads

Calories: 321kcal

Author: Toni Dash

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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:

• 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:

• 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

Calories: 321kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 19mg | Potassium: 376mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 705IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1.9mg

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Originally published: November 16, 2014