Winter Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read the full disclosure here.

This winter salad has crisp lettuce tossed with juicy pears, tangy cheese, sweet cranberries, and candied pecans finished with a bright citrus vinaigrette that brings it all together.

I am one of those people that enjoys eating a salad for lunch.   I often just grab lettuce from the refrigerator, add some cheese, and finish it off with dressing.   Simple and easy.

The thing is that making a gourmet side salad only takes a few extra minutes and it’s so much tastier!   I’ve been trying to make a “fancy” salad at least once a week because we tend to eat them more when there are better mix ins to the salads.

One of my favorite salads is a Pear and Pecan Winter Salad with pomegranate arils.  My all time favorite side salad is the Copycat Olive Garden Salad because we don’t have an Olive Garden nearby and it’s nice to make my own!  When I can find fresh figs I really enjoy a Fig Salad with Honey Balsamic Dressing.

Making a successful gourmet salad is all about choosing the ingredients that pair well together.   You don’t need anything fancy and you don’t need a million ingredients, you just need a handful of ingredients that work well together.

How do you choose what to put in your salad?

For me a good rule of thumb is the rule of 5.    I like to choose a fruit, a nut, a cheese, a vegetable (besides the lettuce), and a dressing flavor.  With just these few ingredients you can create a lovely salad in just minutes that will be the star of the show.

For this salad I went looking for winter ingredients since it’s the middle of winter.  I started with a fruit and decided that pears would be a good choice.   For the nut I went with pecans.  You can use plain pecans, candied pecans, or even spiced pecans

Since I went with candied pecans I balanced that out with spicy pepper jack cheese.   Then I added in dried cherries for some color and red onion for my extra vegetable.

Can I use different ingredients?

Of course!  Use what you like.   Substitute apples for the pears, slices almonds for the pecans, dried cranberries for the cherries, or a sharp cheddar for the pepper jack cheese.

When it came time to make a dressing I made a homemade citrus vinaigrette using fresh squeezed orange juice.  It’s the perfect combination of fresh produce with sweet, tart, and spicy all in one bowl.

Ingredients:

• mixed greens
• dried cherries (or cranberries)
• red onion
• pear (I like using Asian pears but sometimes I can only find Bartlett)
• candied pecans (or regular pecans)
• pepper jack dressing

To make the salad add all of the ingredients to a bowl and toss to combine!   You can also place the lettuce in the bowl and then arrange the other ingredients on top for a pretty presentation.

This salad is so simple to make but visually it’s really pretty and it tastes great too!   While you can use store bought dressing, the citrus vinaigrette is spot on with the salad and takes as little as 5 minutes to make. 

Can I make the salad ahead of time?

You can make the salad up to 8 hours ahead of time.  I like to sprinkle on the nuts and the onion at the end but you can mix it all up ahead of time.   The dressing can be made up to 2 days ahead of time and placed in the refrigerator. 

The dressing should be kept in the refrigerator if you have extra.   I like to make a double batch and keep it in a mason jar in the refrigerator for up to a week. 

Winter Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

A delicious combination of lettuce, pears, dried cherries, cheese, and onions with a homemade vinaigrette.

No ratings yet

Print Pin

1x2x3x

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Hezzi-D

Equipment

• 1 Mixing Bowl

Ingredients

For the salad:

• 6 cups mixed greens
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
• 1 pear thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup candied pecans
• 3/4 cup Pepper Jack cheese shredded

For the dressing:

• 3 Tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Instructions

• To make the salad put the mixed greens in a large bowl.
• Top the salad with the dried cherries, red onions, pear, candied pecans, and Pepper Jack Cheese. Set aside.
• To make the dressing combine all of the ingredients in a bowl with a tight lid. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds.
• Serve the salad with the dressing on the side.

Notes

A Hezzi-D Original recipe