Sunday, December 9, 2012

Chopped Winter Salad

Marigold at Goat Philosophy 101 requested the recipe for the chopped Winter Salad that I mentioned in my recent Dark Days Challenge post. Well, it was probably actually the Goatmother; although, if you swapped out the pecans for peanuts, I'll bet Marigold would eat this up! ;)

This is one of those recipes where there really aren't any hard and fast measurements or rules. It all depends on how many you are serving and what you have on hand.


This is my own dressing recipe. I had some extra lemons to use up and didn't like the sound of the rather sweet, lemon poppy seed dressing included with the recipe. I don't usually make vinaigrettes, opting instead for mayo type dressings, but this is wonderful and I will definitely be making it again...and again...and again!!
Here is the original salad recipe, from grouprecipes.com, with my changes in red.

Winter Salad

1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped (I used half iceberg lettuce and half red cabbage)
1 carrot, grated
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 apple, cut up
1 pear, cut up (I used all apple because I didn't have a pear)
1 cup slivered almonds (I used toasted pecans, chopped)
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (I used crumbled goat cheese)

Combine all ingredients.

Lemon Vinaigrette

1/3 cup lemon juice
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon diced shallot
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake well. Add to salad to taste and toss all together.



I have been trying to eat more in-season foods recently and was tickled to find a salad recipe that fit the bill. After eating garden fresh, homegrown tomatoes for the past several years, I just can't bring myself to buy the tasteless, overpriced, hot-house grown tomatoes in the grocery store anymore. I feel fortunate to live where I do with our longer growing season AND to have a friend with an awesome garden and a greenhouse! We haven't had any real hard freezes yet so her lettuce and cabbage is still growing beautifully.
Linking up with Wildcrafting Wednesday.

18 comments:

  1. This sounds good! The pear caught my eye...it's one of my favorites!

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  2. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Yes, of course I prefer Peanuts, but I admit Pecans are good too. I sure hope the Goatmother will share!

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  3. Ooh, that looks really good!! Love the dark days challenge idea :)
    -Jaime

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  4. Love your substitutions - I never follow recipes really but try to use what I have on hand. Have a good week.

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  5. Lucky for a friend with fresh ingredients still growing that is nice. I love this it sounds wonderful. B

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  6. YUM!! Oh, I miss the produce of warm weather already. :(

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  7. Yummy! I'm so glad she requested it.

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  8. Gosh, that sounds good, right along with the home made dressing. Thanks for sharing. I am sure I will be making this soon.

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  9. I am definitely adding this to my salad collection! Yum! And I just happen to have a lemon (or 20) to use for the vinegrette...

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  10. Definitely going to try this...it sounds so good!

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  11. Yum! I love lemon vinaigrette and use it on almost all of my salads! It's so easy to make and so much better than the bottled dressing.

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  12. I can literally taste the freshness. You are such an awesome cook and so glad to see you striving to eat in-season foods. Inspiring.

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  13. I am so glad to see this recipe. Most recipes use pecans or walnut. My husband can't have either. It will be nice to be able to serve him a salad with nuts that he can eat.

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  14. I am so glad to see this recipe. Most recipes use pecans or walnut. My husband can't have either. It will be nice to be able to serve him a salad with nuts that he can eat.

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  15. This sounds so yummy, Candy! Thanks for sharing and thanks for coming over to visit my new site at The Self Sufficient HomeAcre!

    Glad you found me :)

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  16. LOVE salads, and your dressing recipe looks delicious! :) Thanks for sharing it on Wildcrafting Wednesday! :)

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