This Cranberry Orange Lettuce Salad with Orange Poppy Seed Dressing is a nice winter salad when citrus fruit is at its' peak. The addition of dried cranberries and crunchy toasted pecans complement each other to create a delicious yet simple green salad.
I have a large collection of green salads and I look forward to making variations of this one from late fall all the way through winter. This is my seasonal strategy, having different recipes for each season. Citrus fruit is at it's peak in winter so enjoy the many varieties you see at the grocery store.
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Orange Segments vs Canned Oranges
In December I make this salad with canned mandarin oranges. It's super easy and the bright orange colour of canned mandarin segments look very festive. For an everyday salad at that time of year I'd use fresh mandarins, they must don't have that bright orange colour.
For a nicer version, like I wanted for this photo, I used naval orange segments cut to remove all the peel and pith. The culinary term for these are citrus supremes but I just call them gourmet. It's a bit tedious but I love eating grapefruits and oranges like this so I've gotten pretty good at it.
Get The Tools
When it comes to salads my dressing is always homemade. I learned to make homemade vinaigrette dressing when I first became interested in cooking and I still do. I never really liked the taste of store bought dressing so that's just what I do.
Homemade salad dressing keeps for weeks in the fridge and I always have a few on the go. I keep salad dressing bottles and I try to label them right away (I love may Dymo label maker). These bottles keep your dressings fresh and uncontaminated. For me the label also acts as a reminder of what salad to make when I see them in the fridge.
Let me know in the comments below if you made this salad or if you changed it up a bit.
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More Winter Salads & Cranberry Orange Recipes
Click on the text on the image(s) to go to the recipe/blog post.
And more...
- Cranberry Orange Muffins with Streusel Topping
- An amazing Cranberry Orange Salsa I serve with my turkey dinner
- Arctic Char with Citrus Sauce
- Cranberry Orange Scones
Cranberry Orange Lettuce Salad
Ingredients
SALAD
- 1 head soft lettuce, living lettuce or mixed leaf lettuce combination
- 1 Mandarin orange, segments separated (or 1 can mandarin orange segments, drained)
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup toasted pecans
ORANGE POPPY SEED DRESSING
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 3 tablespoon orange juice
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
Instructions
MAKE SALAD DRESSING
- In a small bowl combine all salad dressing ingredients except oil.
- Slowly whisk in the oil until the dressing is thickened slightly.
MAKE SALAD
- Wash and dry lettuce. Cut or tear into bite-size pieces and put in salad bowl. Add orange segments, dried cranberries and toasted pecans.
- Toss salad with as much dressing as needed. Serve immediately.
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