Pop Quiz: Shredded Coconut or snow?
Answer: Shredded coconut
……just joking!
It’s snow. We had our first dusting of snow today and it made for a nice backdrop for a few photos.
The snow also made for a near-death experience while carrying the camera, tripod, plate, and salad dressing across the slippery deck. This may have been due to wearing Eric’s Size XXL Crocs… Or at least they felt that big on my small feet!
Anyways, back to this dressing. I’m in love with it. That’s really all there is to say.
I’ve wanted to make a fall-inspired salad for a long time now. I made one back in September, but I just couldn’t get the dressing right. For some weird reason, I got stuck on making a cinnamon-spiced almond butter dressing, but sadly it didn’t live up to the dream. Eric and I both thought it just tasted all kinds of wrong. I think he may have gagged. bahaha.
I was back at it yesterday and I’m really happy with how this salad turned out!
This time, I was stuck on a cranberry-orange dressing. I ended up using frozen cranberries, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, fresh clementine juice, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and Dijon mustard for the dressing.
You can use fresh or frozen cranberries and any type of orange juice you prefer. Fresh is always nice if you have it, but you can use 100% pure orange juice from a carton too. I used some clementines because we had a big crate to use up.
Start by cooking the cranberries in a pot along with the maple syrup and vinegar. Cook them over low-medium heat for about 7-10 minutes, until they burst. They will look like this:
Dear Santa, please bring me new pots. I’ll make you chocolate chip cookies. Love, me.
Then I added this cooked cranberry mixture into my blender and blended it along with the rest of the ingredients. The result is a gorgeous berry coloured salad dressing that is sweet with a light tangy aftertaste.
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Cranberry Apple Orange Vinaigrette
Cranberry, maple, apple, and clementine make one lovely stand-out holiday dressing. This festive cranberry dressing is sweet with a light tangy aftertaste. Feel free to use more or less maple syrup to adjust to your own taste buds. You can also use any type of sweet citrus that you prefer.
Yield: just over 1 and 1/4 cups
Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, or adjust to taste
- 1.5 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp fresh clementine or orange juice (or use bottled)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
1. In a medium pot, heat the cranberries, maple syrup, and vinegar over medium heat until the cranberries burst, about 7-10 mins.
2. Slightly cool cranberry mixture and place in a blender along with the rest of the ingredients (except salt and pepper). Blend until smooth. Now add salt, 1/4 tsp at a time, to taste. Blend again. Adjust other ingredients to taste if necessary. You may want more maple syrup than I used. I liked this dressing with a bit of tart aftertaste to really let the cranberries shine. Place in fridge to chill. Should keep in fridge in an air-tight container for up to 5-7 days.
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I had a lot of fun with this salad! Man, it feels like I haven’t had much colour in my photography lately so this salad was welcomed.
Pop Quiz: What backdrop do you like best?
Green:
Orange:
Blue:
White:
Holiday #1
Holiday #2
I bought some fabric at Fabricland this past weekend. ;)
I think my favourite backdrop in this photo is the royal blue colour.
Back to the salad. I get distracted by bright colours obviously!
Holiday Salad with Apple, Pear, Cranberry, and Walnuts
Who says holiday dinners have to be unhealthy? Fuel up on this for more energy to kick Uncle Joe’s butt!
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients:
- 1 large box of organic mixed greens (or greens of choice)
- 1 large apple, chopped
- 1 large pear, chopped
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
- 1/4 cup pepita seeds, optional
- Cranberry dressing from above
1. Add washed and dried greens into a large salad bowl. Add toppings and serve. Drizzle with cranberry vinaigrette.
You know I got all fancy pants on you…
This dressing is the best for fancy pants designs on the side of the plate. You know you want to!
Love, the fancy pants who wears size XXL Crocs
I like the orange or green
I actually like the white the best. That dressing and salad look delicous!!
Wanted to let you know that tonight I made your high protein mashed potatoes but subbed homemade carmelized onions for the garlic. The paprika made the potatoes turn an odd color, sort of peach colored but I think it might be because the paprika I used is extremely vibrant. My husband tasted them and said they were delicious and had no clue what the “secret” ingredient was. At least I know I’ll have something delish AND filling to eat at the dinner party I’m bringing them to tomorrow.
Feeling ambitious, I also made your no bake chocolate torte and OMG yum!!! Once again, my husband loved it and couldn’t identify the secret ingredient, which he always tells me he doesn’t like. You should have seen his face when I told him, lol!!!!! The only thing stopped me from “testing” it again is that it’s in pie form !! I can’t wait to serve these two dishes tomorrow night :) Thanks for all of your delicious recipes and great blog :) ~Leslie
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipes! Maybe I should tone done the paprika in the recipe a bit? heh
White. I like it clean and without the distraction of the colors/patterns.
You posted a link to print off the recipe for the vinagrette but not the salad. Please include links for both when you post multiple recipes. I know its all the rage for bloggers to have a zillion photos every post but it’s a hassle if you just want the recipe to have to delete them all when you go to print it off. There is no cookbook in the world big enough for everyone’s step by step photos. The salad looks and sounds just lovely. Can’t wait to try it!
I love cranberry sauce with oranges, such a good idea for a salad dressing! And your pics are beautiful! I think I like the white background the best, but blue and green are nice too and do add some color!
Hi Angela,
i love your pics and the way you write!
It’s amazing to read your blog :)
Thank you :)
I love the blue. I also like the green.
Would you call me weird if I said that the spoon looks cute with the cherry through it? :)
i vote blue
I like the orange & holiday #2 backdrops best :]
The vinaigrette looks delicious on it’s own to be honest! So pretty :]
I like white and holiday #2. :) The salad looks delicious! Wish I could have it for lunch.
This looks so yummy! and I laughed out loud at your husband’s Crocs… I do the same exact thing! Garbage needs to go out? Wear my husband’s Crocs. Need to go in the basement? Husband’s Crocs. :)
I like blue and holiday one!
This dressing is absolutely fabulous! I am in love. Just made a double batch to share with friends at a Thanksgiving party tomorrow. Thank you!!
So glad you enjoyed it!
I think I like the green first and the blue second. That dressing looks soooo amazing! I really want to try it soon. I think I might even sprinkle some pomegranate seeds on the salad…yum! Oh and we got our stainless steel pots and pans at Costco. Great quality and great price. I’ll whisper to Santa for you ;-)
I vote blue, it is beautiful and offsets the colours of the fruit so well! That dressing looks amazing, good enough to drink.
These are wonderful pics!!! I love the red color of the vinegrette with the oranges and cranberries in the snow… beautiful!
And for sure it doesn’t only look good ;-)
ANGELAAAAA!!! the dressing is awesome!! I used a bag of frozen cranberries I’ve had for _____, so I guessing that is why mine didn’t turn out as beautifully red as yours. I’m assumming you used fresh cranberries . . . I’ll try that next time. Despite the color difference, it tastes amazng && I can’t wait for the fam to try it today. Also, wasn’t sure when to add the pepper . . . so I added it before one last blend . . .
So glad you enjoy the dressing! :) I’ll update the pepper in the directions…but it doesn’t make much of a difference when you add it.
I absolutely love the combination of mustard and cranberries and vinegar and orange – I am tart food obsessed so I can imagine that really working!! Cranberry and orange are awesome cos they can go savoury (like this sauce) or sweet like in a muffin!
Thats totally reminded me how much I need to make cranberry orange muffins again!
ps – beautfiul photo!
I have a question – unrelated to this post. I am looking for a new food processor and am considering the Kitchen Aid 9 cup or 12 cup. I wondered what size you have and if you like it? I have been borrowing my friend’s 12 cup (since my smaller one died several months ago!)- it is very big and heavy but good b/c I make double batches of things like peanut butter. I feel the 9 might be easier and big enough for daily use (I do always double recipes as I have 3 growing boys and like to freeze stuff for later too). Wondered what your opinion might be?
I MUST make this! Omg! I just love you!
Definitely my first pick would be orange, something about it makes everything look so bright and yummy!!
The white would be a runner up for me, it’s a bit stark though, but crisp & clean looking, everything in the pic looks beautiful!!