Description
Holiday tables light up with Festive Christmas Salad, a colorful medley of crisp greens, pomegranate seeds, and toasted walnuts. Silky honey mustard dressing drizzled over the salad creates a perfect balance of sweet and tangy flavors you’ll crave all season long.
Ingredients
Scale
Salad Components:
- 6 cups (1.4 liters) mixed greens (spinach, arugula, or spring mix)
- ½ cup (75 grams) pomegranate seeds
- ½ cup (120 milliliters) orange segments (from 1–2 oranges)
- ½ cup (75 grams) dried cranberries
- ¼ cup (30 grams) candied pecans or walnuts
- ¼ cup (30 grams) crumbled feta or goat cheese
Dressing Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons (45 milliliters) olive oil
- 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) honey
- 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
Seasoning:
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Whisk olive oil, Dijon mustard, honey, vinegar, salt, and black pepper in a petite mixing vessel until a silky, harmonious emulsion forms. Taste and refine seasoning as needed for a balanced dressing profile.
- Select a spacious salad receptacle and create a lush foundation of mixed greens, spreading them evenly across the base.
- Artfully scatter vibrant pomegranate jewels, tangy orange segments, ruby-hued dried cranberries, caramelized candied pecans, and crumbled feta or goat cheese atop the verdant green canvas.
- Moments before presenting the culinary creation, delicately cascade the honey mustard dressing across the salad landscape.
- Gently manipulate the ingredients with culinary tongs, ensuring each element receives a subtle coating of dressing, or alternatively, offer the dressing separately to allow individual customization.
- Immediately transport the festive salad to the dining table, presenting a refreshing and elegant accompaniment that captures the jubilant spirit of the Christmas feast.
Notes
- Customize dressing sweetness by adjusting honey quantity for balanced flavor complexity.
- Prepare candied pecans ahead of time to enhance meal preparation efficiency and reduce last-minute stress.
- Swap feta with vegan cheese alternatives to accommodate dairy-free dietary preferences without compromising taste profile.
- Toast pecans briefly before candying to amplify nutty undertones and create deeper, more robust flavor dimensions.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Lunch, Dinner, Appetizer
- Method: Blending
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 150 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 5 mg