Winter Salad With Orange Ginger Dressing
This hearty Winter Salad is packed full of delicious flavors and powerful nutrients, perfect for lunch or dinner– and also makes an excellent appetizer for guests!
| Ted’s Takeover Recipe: Winter Salad w/ Orange + Ginger Dressing | Sometimes the body just craves greens, especially in the wintertime when we tend to eat more comfort foods. That little signal in our senses is reminding us to supplement with nature’s vitamins. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a piping hot plate of grain-free chicken and dumplings, but a delicious salad like this one is hearty enough to stand alone–and offers an opportunity to replenish important nutrients!
If you buy your produce at a farmers market, your choices for salad fixings can be pretty limited during the winter months. I came up with this salad based on what was available in February- baby Swiss chard and heirloom purple carrots. The Cara Cara oranges I bought at the grocery store. Between the baby Swiss chard, carrots, oranges and fresh ginger, this salad is absolutely loaded with antioxidants and immune system boosting vitamins, which again are never a bad thing during cold and flu season.
And for the manchego, I recommend using six or twelve month aged cheese because it has a sharp, nutty flavor that balances the tang of the citrus and really compliments the toasted almonds.
This salad is definitely fantastic on it’s own as a healthy meal but it also pairs beautifully with fish like salmon or halibut.
And if you love this salad, you’ll also enjoy our Cherry Walnut Arugula Salad. We hope you enjoy the recipe!
Winter Salad With Orange Ginger Dressing
- Total Time: 40 min
- Yield: 2 salads 1x
Ingredients
- 3.5 ounces mixed baby greens (we used some baby Swiss Chard)
- 1 orange, segmented. We recommend Cara Cara oranges for this recipe (See link in instructions below on how to cut orange supremes)
- 1 bunch heirloom carrots (we used purple heirloom carrots here but any carrot is great)
- Manchego cheese, shaved
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
For the dressing
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1/2 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 tablespoon orange blossom honey
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Blanch carrots in boiling water for two minutes and then transfer into an ice bath to stop the cooking process. After a few minutes, remove carrots from ice bath and place in a roasting dish. Drizzle carrots with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place in small baking dish and roast in oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
- While you’re waiting for the carrots to roast, go ahead and make your dressing–place all of the dressing ingredients into a small mixing bowl and whisk rapidly until evenly combined. Set aside.
- Supreme your orange. Here is a great and quick how-to video we found from LeCordon Bleu on cutting orange supremes.
- Place sliced almonds into a small skillet and toast over medium high heat until golden brown. Toss frequently to avoid burning. Transfer almonds onto parchment paper or a plate to cool.
- Place your greens into a large mixing bowl and pour dressing over top. Using tongs, gently toss greens to coat with dressing throughout. Transfer greens to individual salad bowls and top with orange supremes, carrots, toasted almonds and shaved Manchego cheese.
- Serve and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
Keywords: salad, healthy recipe, ginger, carrot, orange, baby greens, gluten-free, grain-free, specific carbohydrate diet, easy dinner
I love this salad Ted! And I agree, our body needs the right balance between comfort foods and nutrient rich fruits & veggies. The addition of manchego sounds wonderful, as well as the flavorful dressing to finish it.
Thank you so much Noelle! I’m really glad that you like the salad. I thought people might appreciate something highly nutritious but also nice to look at to help get them through the end of winter.
Nutrition this beautiful, wow-— what a wonderful and delicious treat!!
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Thank you so much for the kind comment, Annie! I’m really glad that you like the salad.
I just love your salads, Catherine! This one is so stunning and that orange ginger dressing is definitely calling my name. YUM!!
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Thank you so much my friend!! I wish I came up with this, but this is all my husband Ted, he makes the most amazing salads, so delicious! 😀
This is out of this world!! Oh man I’ve never see a salad looking more delicious than this. What a powerhouse of nutrients. I’m definitely making this one stat! Job well done Ted! Beautiful photos too!!
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Wow, thank you so much for the nice comment, Natalie! I really hope you enjoy the salad. And yes, I agree- Catherine’s photos are incredible!
This is such an awesome salad!! That orange ginger dressing is mind-blowing! Pinned!! xo
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Thanks so much for the kind comment, Kim! So glad you like the dressing recipe. 😀