Winter Salad With Cranberry-Orange Dressing

I usually read a magazine while eating lunch at work, and Prevention is one of my favorites. Last week I came across a recipe that really caught my eye. I love cranberries, and I'm always looking for ways to eat more greens, so this salad looked promising. I have to say, it totally delivered.

Winter Salad With Cranberry-Orange Dressing
from Prevention Magazine
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh cranberries (I used frozen, thawed)
1/4 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed makes all the difference)
2 T olive oil
2 T honey (or agave to make it vegan)
2 T chopped shallot (I used scallions)
1 T water
1 t grated fresh ginger
4 cups winter salad greens
1/2 cup orange segments
1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
Salt & pepper

Directions: 
1. To make the dressing, combine the cranberries, orange juice, olive oil, honey, shallot, water, ginger, and salt & pepper in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped.
2. Toss salad greens, orange, and dried cranberries in a large bowl with enough dressing to coat.

This salad is bright, beautiful, and bursting with flavor. I am on a pomegranate kick right now, so I added some pomegranate seeds which contributed even more color and texture. A handful of freshly-shelled pecans from David's grandma made an excellent addition as well.

The balance of sweet and tart works so well in this salad. It's definitely a keeper for us (David loved it) and I can foresee lots of this salad in my future when our lettuce garden starts to boom this year!

~Tammy

Shared with What I Am Eating, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Farm Girl Blog Fest, Tweak It Tuesday, Sunny Simple Sunday, Hearth & Soul Hop, Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Down Home Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things, Healthy Vegan Friday, Tasty Tuesdays, Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop