Beautiful Salad

Name: Beautiful Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 8 cups baby spinach leaves; ½ medium red onion, sliced and separated into rings; 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained; 1 ½ cups sweetened dried cranberries; 1 cup honey-roasted sliced almonds; 1 cup crumbled feta cheese; 1 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing, or to taste

Rating: 4.8 stars

347 Ratings
223 Reviews
17 Photos

A spur-of-the-moment creation when I wanted something with a great flavor punch and lots of color, plus quick to prepare---this one fills the bill, with baby spinach and colorful cranberries and mandarin oranges, plus the crunch of sweetened almonds and the pungent feta cheese---a new favorite at our house! You may substitute blue cheese for the feta and any kind of sweetened pecans or walnuts, if desired, for the almonds.

By Wendy Gayle Wright Epps

Gallery

Recipe Summary

prep:

10 mins

total:

10 mins

Servings:

Yield:

6 servings

Nutrition Info

Ingredients

Original recipe yields 6 servings

The ingredient list now reflects the servings specified

8 cups baby spinach leaves
½ medium red onion, sliced and separated into rings
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 ½ cups sweetened dried cranberries
1 cup honey-roasted sliced almonds
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing, or to taste

Directions

Step 1

Place servings of spinach onto salad plates. Top with red onion, mandarin oranges, cranberries, sliced almonds and feta cheese in that order. Drizzle dressing over each salad.

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Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:

459 calories; protein 9.5g 19% DV; carbohydrates 43.9g 14% DV; fat 29.5g 45% DV; cholesterol 22.3mg 7% DV; sodium 811.4mg 33% DV. Full Nutrition

Reviews (223)

Most helpful positive review

Wendy Gayle Wright Epps

03/31/2005

I am the original poster of this recipe, and I wanted to add that I often add a crunchy green such as romaine along with the spinach, and I sometimes add thinly sliced fresh mushrooms. We tried the blush wine vinaigrette as one reviewer suggested, and it was very good, but we still prefer the depth of flavor and punch the balsamic vinaigrette provides. Thanks for all the positive comments! Read More

Helpful

(217)

Most helpful critical review

KJPTries

10/17/2006

This was good but not great. Read More

Helpful

(1)

347 Ratings

5 star values: 287
4 star values: 54
3 star values: 4
2 star values: 1
1 star values: 1

Reviews: Most Helpful

Most Helpful Most Positive Least Positive Newest

Wendy Gayle Wright Epps

03/30/2005

Helpful

(217)

Shannon Johnson

01/14/2006

My honey said it was the best salad he has ever had. I made it ahead of time and added the cheese just before serving. Thanks! I will be making this one alot:) Read More

Helpful

(73)

joesgirljeri

04/21/2005

This was wonderful! It was such a nice break from regular salad it was light but very filling with the nuts and cranberries. I added romaine lettuce for a different texture and used sugared almonds instead of honey roasted ones. We served it at a dinner party with the Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing (found on this site) and it was delicious. Read More

Helpful

(63)

ALGOMA

11/25/2004

I just tried this salad but upped the serving for 12 people for our Thanksgiving meal. I made only three slight changes I used toffee flavered sliced almonds used baby spinach with red lettuce to add more color then to top it off we used Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette (that was the key ingredient). It was the hit of the meal plus there wasn't any left. Everyone loved it. It will now be our signature salad. Thanks! Read More

Helpful

(40)

MELPRES

01/11/2006

Very nice salad and pretty presentation. I used raspberry vinigarette the first time which was good but I'm not crazy about how sweet it was. I would recommend blue cheese crumbles and balsamic vinegarette dressing to go more 'tangy' than sweet. I'll be making this a bunch. Read More

Helpful

(34)

tlechien

01/31/2011

Boy was this good. Even my 8 yr old granddaughter couldn't get enough (I didn't tell her it was spinach). All the ingredients went so well together. I couldn't find honey-roasted sliced almonds so I used honey-roasted cashews and chopped them. Definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing this recipe. Read More

Helpful

(31)

JDVMD

01/12/2006

I make this all the time and it is great. You will always get rave reviews when serving and you can vary it greatly. I like blue cheese and toasted walnuts best. Read More

Helpful

(26)

Peter Near

07/26/2010

This was a huge hit when we brought it to a dinner party and I have to admit it's one of the top salads I've ever had. Served with Kraft raspberry vinaigrette and homemade honey-roasted almonds. We were unable to locate honey-roasted almonds at the store so we made our own: - 1 cup slivered almonds toasted in oven for 30 minutes at 300 degrees - Stir the roasted almonds into a saucepan that contains 1 tbsp honey 1tbsp oil 1 tbsp water until liquid disappears - Toss in a mixture of 1/4 cup white sugar and 1/4 tsp of salt. Read More

Helpful

(23)

ANJA

02/24/2006

This is a wonderfully refreshing and filling salad! We make it all the time now. One thing we like to add to make it more of a meal is cubed baked chicken. It's great either way! Read More

Helpful

(21)

KJPTries

10/17/2006

This was good but not great. Read More

Helpful

(1)

More Reviews

Reviews for: Photos of Beautiful Salad

1 of 223

All Reviews

My honey said it was the best salad he has ever had. I made it ahead of time and added the cheese just before serving. Thanks! I will be making this one alot:)

I make this all the time and it is great. You will always get rave reviews when serving and you can vary it greatly. I like blue cheese and toasted walnuts best.

This is a wonderfully refreshing and filling salad! We make it all the time now. One thing we like to add to make it more of a meal is cubed baked chicken. It's great either way!