Beautiful Salad

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!

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 :)

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.

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!

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.

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 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.

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!

a fantastic salad. i subtituted ground walnuts because that is all that was in the pantry. next time, i'll choose whole walnuts instead. i used a balsamic dijon dressing that complimented this perfectly.

I've made this salad several times now paired with Red Raspberry Vinaigrette from this site and always get rave reviews. I use Spring Greens bag mix in addition to spinach and add sliced mushrooms. Excellent recipe!

Made this salad for 100 people at a Mother's Day dinner at church; and for 60 people at a graduation banquet. It was an absolute hit. It is very beautiful, very tasty with many levels of flavors (made it with a raspberry basalmic vinaigrette), was easy to prepare,and not too expensive. Consequently, I already have plans of serving it again - this time to 120 women at a Church retreat. Highly recommend this salad.

Delicious! I left off the onions, as I don't care for raw onions. I used a poppy seed dressing which I found on this site, and the salad was to die for. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

I have been throwing a salad like this together for a few years. It is always delicious. I also add Perdue Short Cut Grilled Chicken on top to change up the recipe.

My husband LOVED this salad, which really surprised me since I didn't expect him to like the mandarin oranges and cranberries so well!! But he's raved about it all week. I've made it twice now and I found it was MUCH better the second time because I tossed it and kind of coated it well with the dressing (I used Paul Newman's Balsamic Vinegar.) It wasn't nearly as good when it wasn't coated well and was a little dry. We'll definitely keep making this one!

This salad makes a nice presentation. The combination of ingredients is delicious! I wouldn't change anything.

DE-Licious! I figured I'd give this one a whirl but wasn't too excited about it until I tasted it. It is such a great pick me up afternoon snack or feature dish. Very satisfying. Also, as one reader noted, use Brianna's Blush Wine Vinagrette Dressing. Just perfect!

my mom and I liked this salad. I will make it again.

amazing salad! i went strictly by the recipe and used my cranberries that i keep soaking in seven-up in the refrigerator, trick i learned from a restaurant in california. rather than shriveled and dry they are plump and juicy with juicy freshness.

I made this for a dinner party. It was great! I forgot to put on the feta, but it was still very good. Thanks!

Beautiful presentation, great blend of flavors. Got rave reviews...

Very Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great combination of colors and flavors!

This is also great with thin slices of granny smith apples instead of the oranges. I also like to add red, yellow and orange peppers. Wishbone's Red wine vinegarette dressing is perfect for this.

Very nice salad! I made this tonight as part of a special dinner to surprise my husband, and he loved it. It was quicker than making a traditional tossed salad, and it looks very fancy. I used Emeril's raspberry balsamic vinagrette for the dressing, which was very good. I will definitely make this on a regular basis. Thanks for the recipe!

We were sick of ordinary salad, so I decided to try this one. It was very good. Made it to go with "real Italian calzones" from this site.

I needed a quick, healthy dish to take to a post-triathlon party so I tried this. I went to the grocery after the race and threw it together. It was a huge hit with my team and I'll definitely be making this again and again.

Very good salad and it does make a beautiful presentation. I served it at a dinner party for my family and everyone loved it. Even my sister-in-law, who is pretty picky, asked for the recipe. I substituted sliced green onion for the red onion because I had some on hand, but will try it with the red onion when I serve it again with Thanksgiving dinner.

I served this at a dinner party as the salad course between two other Allrecipes: Ali's Amazing Bruschetta (appetizer), and Clam Sauce With Linguine (entree). Big hit! Per other review I added some chopped romaine for variety/color. I forgot to buy red onion but it was fine without.

Brought to my friend's house. Everyone really liked this salad. Used Blue Cheese and Honey Dry Roasted Nuts. This is definitely a keeper. Liked the fact that each person could do their own plates and leave out an ingredient if they didn't like it (although the combination of using all the ingredients appeared to be the right combination of flavors).

This is very much like the prepared Grand Parisian Salad that is sold at Costco. They include Gerard's White Balsamic vinaigrette and fancy greens instead of spinach.

This salad is absolutley amazing! Per the submitters suggestion, I used glazed walnuts and blue cheese, and it's DELICIOUS! I also used Ken's Creamy Balsamic Vinagrette, which I highly recommend. It's not a "cream" dressing, it's just super emulsified and thicker which really complimented this salad. I can't wait to have this with dinner again tonight. Next time, I'll use the feta and almonds. Thanks for sharing this fanatstic recipe! :)

This is a sophisticated, yet easy to prepare salad. I made it for a luncheon and had rave reviews! I used the Brianna's Blush Wine dressing, and sugared walnut pieces- made it ahead and let it chill about an hour. Highly recommended!

Enjoyed by all during this holiday season. Used sliced green apples and strawberries instead of baby oranges for holiday color.

I made this for Christmas 2010 dinner with my family. I used fresh baby spinach and red leaf lettuce, and I substituted chopped pecans for the almonds. I also used Brianna's Blush vinaigrette instead of balsamic. Everything else stayed the same. This was delicious and I got many, many compliments on the recipe.

A huge hit at a potluck. I got many requests for the recipe.

First time EVER that I have made a salad and it was licked clean. Everyone loved it and it really is a great recipe. I will make this again for every summer/spring gathering that I have!

I made this salad and used poppy seed dressing. It was a hit with all of my family. The fruit in the salad really complemented the rest of the meal. I also added some sliced strawberries to the salad. yum!!

This is my go-to salad. I do not candy the almonds, just toast them lightly in a skillet. There is enough sweetness with the cranberries and oranges. I make my own vinaigrette with 1/4 c white balsamic vinegar, 2 T. fig balsamic vinegar, a tsp of dijon, salt and pepper and then whisk in about 1/2 good extra virgin olive oil. If too tart, add about 1 tsp of honey or to taste. Can also use a T of juice from oranges as a sweetener.

This is a really good salad! I used one bag of spinach and one bag of mixed romaine lettuces. I felt like there were to many cranberries, and no one used the dressing! I doubled the recipe to feed 20 people and they ate it all up. I will be making this again.

teens and adults really liked, I used spinach & romaine to give it more crunch. I made early in day, omitting nuts & cheese, put on salad plates & covered. At dinner time, I added the nuts & cheese for those who opted for them.

I thought this recipie was amazing. The products are kind of expensive to buy but they were worth the money.

Very tasty and colorful salad. I replaced the almonds with plain walnuts and substituted reduced fat feta for a slightly less calorie-intense salad. Even so, I think it needed more spinach to balance out all those toppings. I'd go with more greens next time for less calories and more salad-y.

Made this for Christmas and my guests loved it.

This was so yummy! I am a total health nut, so I love salad. But I felt like it was sort of soggy, so I would use less balsalmic viniagrette. Also, if you are short on ingredients, it also tastes great with just mandarin oranges,balsalmic viniagrette and spinach leaves. None the less thanks!

I love this recipe!

Excellent and easy

Rather than adding feta or blue cheese this salad I have added sliced hard boiled eggs! Another way to get some protein on board. This salad is always a crowd pleaser.

Ok I am totally addicted to this salad. If you live in Canada, try it with President's Choice Maple Balsamic salad dressing. It's slightly sweet and compliments this salad perfectly. I highly recommend.

This salad is a hit everywhere I take it. I don't do individual servings - I do a bowlful and I use Good Seasons' Asian Sesame with Ginger dressing. So yummy!

I have made this several times and always with excellent results using the different dressings: Balsamic, Raspberry, Brianna Blush, etc. I think it all comes down to personal taste. The only difference I make to the recipe is to slice up sweet navel oranges when they are in season (I'm from Florida!!). Last time I fixed this I also threw in some arugula into the mix. I get the usual "WOW, this looks great!" response every time I serve this to guest. Thanks soooo much WendyinTexas for submitting a simple, but delicious recipe...and healthy too!!!!

Very delicious. Made as written. Hubby loved it.

I make this salad a lot, using walnuts instead of almonds and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. It is a wonderful blend of flavors and one of our favorite salads.

Incredible, awesome, amazing my gf and guest loved it! A keeper and super simple!

My husband and I totally loved this salad. I did tweak it and used green onions instead of a red onion and used honey-roasted pecans instead of almonds. The contrasting flavors really went well together. My husband initially eyed it up with a suspicious look on his face. Then he ate it and wanted more! All I can say is YUM! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

Loved this salad! We used Newman's Raspberry Walnut salad dressing and it was a perfect combo.

Beyond amazing. Thank you for a wonderful recipe.

So awesome. Followed the recipe. Only problem was that I couldn't find honey roasted almonds...so I roasted my own, and I used too much sugar to coat them. Because of the cranberries and mandarine oranges, this salad didn't keep well in the fridge, so I would make just prior to the event and not prepare before hand.

This salad recipe is a keeper. It's also great w/ dried cherries, and raspberry vinagrette. Excellent any time of year, but I especially love it in the summer!

I've been making a similar salad to this for years. This recipe is delicious. My only suggestion would be try using raw slivered almonds and toasting them before hand, it brings out the flavor and makes this salad even better! It also cuts down the calories and salt in this recipe without losing flavor. You can brown them either in a toaster oven or in a skillet on the stove. Just keep a close watch so they don't burn.

This is my new favorite salad. All of the flavors go so well with each other. I too used Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette for the dressing.

WONDERFUL salad - lovely to look at and eat! I modify depending on what's on hand. I usually use pecan halves insetad of sliced almonds, and omit the feta due to dietary restrictions. I also prefer a red wine vinagrette for the dressing. I add some sliced pears when I have them. I never tire of the flavors - I've taken it for lunch for nearly two weeks now! This will be a staple salad for me, and I am not normally one who eats lots of salads!

Nice salad! I used strawberries instead of mandarin oranges. Pears also go nicely in this salad.

Wish I could give more stars, even though I forgot the feta. My 5 year old who likes to stay away from salad couldn't have enough of this. Thanks for a great recipe.

This recipe is also great with goat cheese in place of the feta. It compliments the mandarin oranges in particular.

Wow. This is really good and easy to whip up. I didn't have spinach so used mixed greens. The feta tastes great against the sweet mandarins and dried cranberries. Great combination of flavours. Thank you for sharing.

I loved this salad - I don't very often eat salads in the winter but I had some spinach and feta and mandarin oranges and your recipe came up. I am sure glad it did. Very nice salad - thankyou!

I use this for special dinners. Easy to assemble at the last minute. Very little prep. My only comment is to go very light on the dressing or serve on the side. I think with the moisture from the oranges it gets too wet very quickly.

Great balance of flavours! Soooo good!! I served it with the Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette from this site. Big hit!

The only thing I changed was I used 1/2 Spinach and 1/2 Iceberg lettuce. I also used a recipe from this site for a Honey Dijon Vinaigrette.

So good!

I made this for Christmas dinner. What a festive, colorful and fantastically delicious salad. I used the Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette and Glazed Almonds recipes from this website to top the salad. An older auntie with a tiny appetite devoured this salad and asked for seconds! A terrific addition to any holiday dinner.

This was a good recipe to begin with, but I changed it up to our liking and have been eating it every single Friday night for... I lose count of the years! I use (in this order) bagged "tender baby lettuces", red onion, bacon bits, feta cheese, dried cranberries, walnuts, mandarins, and Newmans - fat free raspberry vinaigrette.

This has become my new "go to" receipe for elegant but easy. Plates easily, looks beautiful and tastes delicious. LOVE IT!

This is the first meal I have been able to get my husband to eat that does not contain meat!!!

I just love the taste of cheese with fruit, and cranberries are one of my favorites. I invited my girl friends to lunch, and this was one of the items on the menu. Everybody loved it! I could not find honey roasted almonds (or don't know how to make them), so just used flaked almonds. Served with the recommended vinaigrette, as well as a raspberry one - both were wonderful. Will definitely be making again and again!

Simply light and delicious! I made this salad for my house guests two weeks ago. They were extremely impressed and requested for the recipe before they left. Thanks for sharing!

This is the best, most refreshing and pretty salad I have tried in a long time! Friends who came to dinner loved it, and it will be a regular here from now on. I didn't have almonds, so I used sunflower seeds instead. Super! Used a good quality balsamic vinegar in the dressing, and it was just excellent.

I made this recipe to include on a salad bar. Very tasty and very popular. The only changes that I made was to halve the amount of mandarin oranges and throw in some pineapple chunks as well as adding some romaine. GREAT!

I made this salad to go along with a beef tenderloin I made for Christmas. Both recipes from this website! The salad was wonderful with the crunch of the nuts and the sweet cranberries. Definitely a keeper!

So awesome! Posh restaraunt style eating for sure.

Made this to bring to a BBQ - received rave reviews!

This is my GO TO salad went hosting family dinners. The candied nuts and mandarin oranges are my absolute favorite aspect of this salad. Thanks for this concoction, it's.........beautiful.

This is a salad that I introduced to my family on Thanksgiving. I have now been asked to bring it for events such as 4th of July, Family Reunions, pot luck dinners at church....it never gets old. All you need to do in switching it up is change the greens-spring greens, spinach or mix them. You can change the nuts - from almonds to pecans, honey roasted or not. Change the dressing - raspberry, balsamic or red wine vinegrette. It is wonderful!

Very good salad. I used raspberry vinigrette.

This was very easy to put together & delicious. I did leave the dressing off & just set out my families' favorites so each person could put on the kind they like.

It is good!

followed exactly but used mixed greens, very very good.

Delicious! Loved it!

I'm normally not a big salad eater. Even though I like spinach salads way more than regular (i hate lettuce) i still usually have to force them down. But this salad was GREAT! I made a couple of changes based on personal taste. First, I used the Sugar Coated Pecans recipe from this site for the nuts. I am not a big onion fan, so I diced the onion. After a while it smelled way too oniony, so I pulled most of the pieces back out. It still had a good onion flavor without the pieces of onion. Next time I think I'll mince up just a little bit of onion, and then just let the salad sit with one huge piece in it (and then pull that piece out), just to give it the flavor. I used goat cheese because that was what I had on hand. I used the "balsamic breeze" salad dressing spray. It's lower in calories and keeps you from drowning the salad. WONDERFUL!

Served this salad on the weekend to friends and they all loved it! Two thumbs up!

Thank you for this recipe! It's my go-to salad for special occasions now. Granted, I don't measure anything, and I serve it with whatever dressing we have on hand (Kraft's Bacon Ranch was awesome).

This was both beautiful and very easy to make. Best of all it tasted great. Served it to family and got thumbs up from everyone.

A great recipe! I used a raspberry-walnut vinagrette which turned out amazing! I would use less than a cup next time, though, since the baby spinach is fairly light and soaks up a lot of the dressing. But a nice, light, refreshing salad overall! My son and fiance were getting tired of the usual salads, and this went over well, even though they are not big green eaters!

It really is beautiful.

Pretty good! I can only award three stars based on my initial impression, but with a few tweaks, this could be 5 star quality (hence my 4 star rating). I love all of the components of this salad and think they work well together, but to my surprise I didn't care for the balsamic vinaigrette at all. The tart balsamic and pungent, tangy feta was just plain overkill. I think I would prefer a blush wine or raspberry vinaigrette or blue cheese paired with the balsamic instead. I will definitely try one or all of those substitutions next time. All in all, this was super yummy, but a little of a disappointment after adding the balsamic. Thanks Wendy! :-)

This was delicious! I used mixed greens and plain toasted almonds.

A nice, healthy, colorful salad. I used walnuts since that's what I had in the pantry. Instead of balsamic vinaigrette, I used raspberry. The mandarin oranges make this a very refresing salad!

Great One!!!!! I used good seasons asian sesame with ginger dressing as someone else had suggested instead of the posted dressing. Great! Great meal with a whole wheat roll. Takes a minute to make. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! Have made twice this week.

My nine-year old is throwing fits about salad, and not wanting any at all. I am trying out different combinations to see if I can find something that he enjoys. I didn't combine everything in the salad. I put all the topping choices in little bowls on the table. After he'd put in the items he was willing to try, he devoured it. He scraped the bowl for the very last tiny bit of spinach leaf. My husband and I just sat there and stared. This was not a kid just eating his salad because he was supposed to - he ended up liking it!