Cranberry Pecan Salad

Submitted by Cook4_6

"Each year my company has a cook-off. This was this year's winner in the Salad-Taster's Choice category. It was so yummy, I thought I had to share it! (Courtesy of Becky Miller)"

 

• Ready In: 15mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 cup pecan halves
• 2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1⁄2 teaspoon sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 cups mixed salad greens, rinsed and dried
• 3⁄4 cup dried cranberries
• 1⁄2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1⁄2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spread pecans evenly on a baking sheet and toast for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper; mix until the sugar and salt dissolve. Whisk in olive oil.
4. In a salad bowl, toss together the greens, cranberries, onions, pecans, and cheese.
5. Drizzle with vinaigrette, and toss gently to coat.

Reviews

[KateL]

This was a perfect salad for DH: good ingredients and a non-intrusive vinaigrette. I think my reservation stemmed from my lackluster feta cheese -- I yearned for blue cheese or a jazzier version of feta cheese. I should have stopped toasting the pecans at 8 minutes, mine at 9 minutes were slightly over done. DH will bug me to make this again soon. Thanks for posting, Cooks4_6!. Made for Healthy Choces ABC Tag.

 

[BarbryT]

A very nice salad. I think I expected more fruitiness in the dressing. I may try some other vinigrettes--with this combination of greens, fruits and nuts--in the future, but I definitely will make this salad again.

 

[Brooke the Cook in]

Very good! I made half the salad for lunch today for my DH and I. We also subbed reduced fat feta and splenda in place of the sugar as Sarah_Jayne noted. After lunch my DH said he'd 'give this one his highest mark' - what a complement and I certainly agree. Simple and very quick to prepare. Made for 1-2-3 Hit Wonders tag game.

 

[Sarah_Jayne]

You are right, this is a very yummy salad. I used reduced fat feta and splenda instead of the sugar and it turned out great. The cranberries and pecans worked well to take away the salty bite from the feta. Made for Zaar Tag.