Winter Salad

"This is good anytime, of course. I'm guessing the salad got it's name from the beautiful reds and greens in it. If watercress is available, don't leave it out; it adds a lot. Prepare the pecans and salad dressing a day or two before and it will all go together quickly."
 
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Ready In:
1hr 5mins
Ingredients:
20
Serves:
6
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ingredients

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directions

  • Glazed Pecans: Melt butter, syrup and salt; add pecans and stir together; spread on baking sheet and bake at 250° for 45-60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
  • Remove to waxed paper to cool; chip into pieces and set aside or store in air-tight container.
  • Dressing: Place all ingredients in a small jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake until combined; refrigerate until needed.
  • Salad: Tear lettuce into bite-sized pieces and mix with watercress in a large salad bowl; cut apples into thin wedges (dip in lemon water or orange juice); add onions, pecans, bleu cheese and cranberries; drizzle with salad dressing and toss to combine.

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Reviews

  1. Excellent mix of tastes and textures. Made it for Christmas dinner and everyone loved it. I will be making this one again!
     
  2. very tasty. I ran out of time at the last minute and had to throw it together out of what I had on hand - so I didn't make it quite as directed. (missed out the shallots altogether. used brown sugar instead of corn syrup, used a mixed pack of salad leaves, and used feta instead of blue cheese & honey instead of maple syrup). However, even with those changes the guests raved about it..
     
  3. Great salad. I served for Christmas dinner, and it was loved by everyone. I used red onion instead of the shallots, and romaine instead of the bibb. I also subed feta cheese for the blue cheese, as I dont care for blue cheese. And I doubled the amount of dried cranberries, since I love them. It was nice to have a light tasting salad to go with a heavy meal.
     
  4. Wow! This was one of the best salads I've had in a long, long time. With the blend of colors it looks as good as it tastes, too. I couldn't find watercress so omitted it; in retrospect, I think fresh spinach would be a good sub for that and will definitely try that next time. The only other change in my salad was to substitute crumbled feta for the blue cheese, as I was not among blue cheese afficianados, lol. It worked very well and had a mellower flavor than the blue cheese would have, allowing the other toppings (especially the cranberries and pecans) to really shine. I wasn't exactly sure what result I was looking for when baking the pecans but after 45 minutes they were crisp and light and the coating had turned to something like a light toffee (and smelled divine) so I stopped there. They were SO good that the kids and I were having a hard time not eating them all while they were cooling. (Hint: do not let the pan/spoon cool down too much before you wash/soak them because that syrup hardens into stone, lol.) A full cup of pecans seemed like a bit much once we got to putting them on the lettuce so I used closer to 1/2-3/4 c and have saved the rest back for other salads. This has gone straight to the top of my salad recipes, especially during the holiday season when I have to take things for dinner parties. Thanks so much for posting this beautiful and tasty recipe!
     
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Tweaks

  1. Wow! This was one of the best salads I've had in a long, long time. With the blend of colors it looks as good as it tastes, too. I couldn't find watercress so omitted it; in retrospect, I think fresh spinach would be a good sub for that and will definitely try that next time. The only other change in my salad was to substitute crumbled feta for the blue cheese, as I was not among blue cheese afficianados, lol. It worked very well and had a mellower flavor than the blue cheese would have, allowing the other toppings (especially the cranberries and pecans) to really shine. I wasn't exactly sure what result I was looking for when baking the pecans but after 45 minutes they were crisp and light and the coating had turned to something like a light toffee (and smelled divine) so I stopped there. They were SO good that the kids and I were having a hard time not eating them all while they were cooling. (Hint: do not let the pan/spoon cool down too much before you wash/soak them because that syrup hardens into stone, lol.) A full cup of pecans seemed like a bit much once we got to putting them on the lettuce so I used closer to 1/2-3/4 c and have saved the rest back for other salads. This has gone straight to the top of my salad recipes, especially during the holiday season when I have to take things for dinner parties. Thanks so much for posting this beautiful and tasty recipe!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I’m a former interior designer and landscape designer. At the moment I get to enjoy being at home and working only when I want to. I like rollerblading, hiking, backpacking and trips to the ocean. I grew up on a farm in the Midwest and moved to the Northwest when I was thirty, over twenty years ago. I’m afraid they’ll have to bury me here in WA. This is God’s country and I’m never leaving. I have a smallish collection of cookbooks, preferring to use the library and a copy machine. Among my favorites though, are: Recipes 1-2-3, by Rozanne Gold, a collection of recipes containing no more than 3 ingredients (excepting water, salt and pepper); A Treasury of Great Recipes, by Mary and Vincent Price, recipes collected from friends and chefs of great restaurants around the world; The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, by Nancy Harmon Jenkins, about a collection of cuisines I’m convinced are the healthiest in the world and The Low-Calorie Gourmet, by Pierre Franey. Currently my passions are our dogs, the garden, cooking, the natural world and of course, Dh. I can now add Zaar to that list of passions (translate: addiction). We have three dogs, two rescued and one adopted. They are Sugarpea, a Golden Retriever, Chickpea, a Llasa Apso and Sweetpea, a Shih Tzu; small, medium and large. We’re quite a sight out on the trail. One of the things I am most fond of about living here is the ability to vegetable garden year ‘round.
 
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