Salad with Warm Cranberry Port Vinaigrette

Gluten free cooks want to enjoy amazing salads in each season. A green Salad with Warm Cranberry Port Vinaigrette is a fancy salad worth repeating year after year. The winning combination of crunchy pistachios, creamy blue cheese and warm dressing is perfect for entertaining.

If you're ready to buy the port I've got more ways for you to cook with it. For an inexpensive bottle of Ruby Port I make this salad dressing, an easy Chicken Porto dish and for dessert, Poached Pears in Port.

I'd reserve a more expensive bottle of Tawny Port for an evening of charcuterie with my 'port friends.'

Ingredients

Winter salads with a warm dressing always feel fancy. For the holidays this salad can be presented beautifully to take advantage of the red and green colours.

• tawny port or Ruby port

• shallots - give the salad a more mild onion flavour

• fresh cranberries - These are better than dried in this recipe.

• olive oil and red wine vinegar - The simple combination for may salads.

• salad greens - Experiment with different greens to see what you like best.

• pistachios - These are a treat worth buying.

• blue cheese (Roquefort, Cambazola or Gorgonzola)

See recipe card for exact amounts.

Ruby Port or Tawny Port

Port is a fortified wine with brandy added during the fermentation process. Port, also called Port Wine, is sold as ruby and tawny. Ruby Port is young and has a deep, ruby colour.

Tawny Port is aged and is a brownish, tawny colour. It's less sweet and is often served with a cheese course after a meal. It's the perfect for charcuterie.

Is Blue Cheese Gluten Free?

Yes, blue cheese is safe anyone on a gluten free diet. Celiac Canada has a short paragraph on the safety of blue cheese. The Spruce Eats has this extensive article titled Blue Cheese Is Gluten-Free: A Research Update.

If you don’t like blue cheese because it's made of mould and smells like stinky socks well that’s different. If you're a little shy about blue try Cambozola. It's a mild, soft cheese that's a combination of creamy Camembert and Italian Gorgonzola. If blue cheese just isn't your thing substitute a creamy goat cheese and enjoy.

Organize For Success: Homemade Dressing

I'm all about homemade salad dressing so I'm set up for it. Here's what I've got:

• A variety of 1-cup and 2-cup Mason jars with plastic lids.
• Small ½-cup jars for a small amount of leftover dressing, they can go in my lunch too.
• Sticky labels from the Dollar Store just for this purpose.
• A Dymo label maker for labelling too.

Yet even today, I have at least three jars of salad dressing in my fridge with no label.

Warm Salad with Cranberry Port Vinaigrette

Warm Cranberry Port Vinaigrette served on winter greens is a magical combination. The creamy blue cheese, crunchy pistachios and warm cranberries is one you'll want to repeat year after year.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Canadian

Keyword: cranberry port vinaigrette, warm salad

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 people

Calories: 209kcal

Author: Cinde Little

Ingredients

CRANBERRY PORT VINAIGRETTE

• ▢ 1 cup tawny port or Ruby port
• ▢ ⅓ cup shallots thinly, sliced (or white onion)
• ▢ 1 cup fresh cranberries
• ▢ ⅓ cup olive oil
• ▢ 3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• ▢ salt & pepper

SALAD

• ▢ 8 cups assorted greens
• ▢ ¼ cup pistachios
• ▢ ⅔ cup blue cheese Roquefort, Cambazola or Gorgonzola

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Instructions

CRANBERRY PORT VINAIGRETTE

• Boil port and shallots in a small saucepan to reduce slightly, about 15 minutes.
• Add cranberries, oil and vinegar. Boil for 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool slightly.
• Can be prepared one day in advance. Reheat before serving.

SALAD

• Put greens and nuts in a large salad bowl.
• Pour vinaigrette over greens and toss.
• Portion salad onto plates and add cheese. Serve warm.

Notes

*Substitute the blue cheese with goat cheese if you must.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Warm Salad with Cranberry Port Vinaigrette

Amount Per Serving (1 person)

Calories 209 Calories from Fat 126

% Daily Value*

Fat 14g22%

Saturated Fat 4g25%

Polyunsaturated Fat 2g

Monounsaturated Fat 8g

Cholesterol 8mg3%

Sodium 145mg6%

Potassium 210mg6%

Carbohydrates 10g3%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 4g4%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin A 564IU11%

Vitamin C 12mg15%

Calcium 76mg8%

Iron 1mg6%

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