Spinach/Romaine Salad With Poppy Seed Dressing & Mandarin Or

Submitted by William Uncle Bill

"I have been experimenting with different types of salads and dressings and have developed this very tasty combination of greens and dressing."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• SALAD

• 1 (10 ounce) can mandarin orange segments, drained
• 2 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 3/8 inch cubes
• 1⁄4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 bunch fresh spinach, trimmed, washed, remove stems and discard (about 10 ounces)
• 1 head romaine lettuce, washed, dried and torn into bite size pieces
• 1⁄3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

• DRESSING

• 1⁄2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
• 4 tablespoons six-year-old balsamic vinegar
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons liquid honey
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

directions

1. SALAD - Drain oranges, place into a bowl and set aside.
2. Cube apples and place in a bowl.
3. Pour lemon juice over; mix well to coat to prevent from turning brown and let marinate for about 1 hour or longer.
4. Before using apples, drain any excess lemon juice.
5. Prepare spinach and Romaine lettuce; dry on paper towels, and add to a large bowl.
6. Add ice cubes and let chill for at least 1/2 hour to crisp.
7. DRESSING - In a glass jar with lid, add orange juice, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, poppy seeds, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper; shake well to blend.
8. TO SERVE - Remove ice from the greens and discard; drain any water.
9. Add apples and pine nuts and toss to mix well.
10. Add dressing mixture and toss to coat well.
11. Arrange spinach on individual salad plates and top with 3 or 4 Mandarin orange segments.
12. This dressing is also very good with young, mixed greens.

Reviews

[Sues Kitchen]

Absolutely delicious salad dressing!!! Certainly warrants more than 5 stars. Used it tossed with baby spinach, arranged mandarine sections on top and scattered some sunflower seeds. Yummy, thanks for sharing.

 

[jetta_mel]

just made the dressing to put on a similar salad but with teryaki chicken. sooo yummy! thanks

 

[Sweet Baboo]

We adored this salad...there was not a speck left after dinner, even though there was another salad that was only half eaten. I made this on the spur of the moment and did not have any apples in the house so I added some dried cherries to the orange segments, and substituted roasted walnuts for the pine nuts (there again, none in the larder). The dressing is wonderful, and I am thinking that it might also be good on a cold grain salad with oranges and dried fruit.

 

[Chef likestocook]

I used this dressing and it was great! I used the spring mix from my garden along with apples, craisins, and the mandarin oranges. The orange juice really makes this dressing great!

 

[SunshineNut]

I made this for a dinner party and received rave reviews - it was gobbled up. I add 1/4 cup water to the dressing the mellow the OJ a bit. The dressing is amazing and even my kids like it. They are a hard sell...usually it's only Ranch that they will eat. We've been eating the dressing on several different types of salads! It's great!!