Today’s recipe is a salad that can only be described as very versatile indeed. Enjoy this salad as a mid morning snack , as an accompaniment to your dinner or even as a main meal in itself.
Although it has already has plenty of wonderful tastes and textures here are some suggestions for substitutions. If you do not have any baby spinach just use arugula or regular field greens. You can safely swap almonds for pecans or walnuts. If you do not have the recipe for candied nuts here it is.
Fruit additions work well too. Try some finely sliced mangos, blood orange or crisp apple or pear. No salad is complete without a nice dressing and this vinaigrette is something you should make plenty of so you always have some handy.
I hope you see why I describe this healthy cranberry avocado salad as versatile because it really cannot be described any other way.
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried mustard
- 1 tablespoon minced sweet onion
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salad
- 12 ounces Baby Spinach, arugula or field greens
- 1 small bunch cilantro, washed and dried, leaves removed whole from stems
- 2 medium Avocados, peeled and halved
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries
- 3/4 cup candied spiced almonds
Directions
- For the dressing: Combine all ingredients in a pint sized glass jar and shake well to dissolve sugar.
- For the salad: place greens and cilantro leaves in a large bowl.
- Add avocado and dried cranberries and about 1/4 cup of the dressing and toss gently.
- Scatter candied almonds over salad and sprinkle lightly with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Drizzle vinaigrette over salad accordingly.