Kimberly's Festive Salad is butter lettuce topped with almonds, mandarins, cranberries, feta and apples in a simple lemon/olive oil dressing.
- 6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium lemon (juice of)
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 Tablespoon minced red onion or shallot
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
- 1 lg. head butter lettuce
- 15 oz. canned mandarin oranges drained well
- ¼ cup slivered, toasted almonds
- ¼ cup dried sweetened cranberries
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 large Honeycrisp apple (*do not peel) cored- diced in bite-sized pieces
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Make Salad Dressing: Combine olive oil, lemon juice, honey, salt, red pepper flakes and red onion (or shallot) in a small bowl. Whisk well until the dressing has emulsified into a uniform mixture. Set dressing aside.
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Place butter lettuce leaves (torn in smaller pieces) in a large serving bowl. Top with cranberries, mandarin oranges, slivered almonds and crumbled feta. NOTE: Reserve a very small amount of each of these topping ingredients to add to the salad AFTER you've tossed it with the dressing. TIP: Do not cut up the apple until right before you serve the salad, because that prevents the chopped apples from browning once they're exposed to air.
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TIP: If you're making the salad ahead of time, cover it with plastic wrap (without the apples!). Refrigerate it until you're ready to serve it later, so all ingredients are well-chilled.
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Right before serving, chop the apple (don't peel it) into small bite-sized pieces. Add apple pieces to the salad.
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Whisk salad dressing well; drizzle it on the salad. Toss salad gently to cover all ingredients with salad dressing. Add reserved feta, mandarins, almonds, and cranberries to the top of the salad. Serve, and enjoy!
NOTE: Add apple piece just before serving to prevent browning! You can substitute Fuji or Gala apples, or another red CRISP apple if desired.