Mixed Greens With Cranberry Vinaigrette

Mixed greens with cranberry vinaigrette combine fresh, tangy, and sweet flavors to create a festive dish that's free of the top 9 allergens.

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Some people might say that there is no room for salad on a Thanksgiving table. After all, there are so many other traditional dishes to enjoy! But I think every meal needs a fresher side, a palate cleanser if you will.

For our Thanksgiving table, we alternate between this festive broccoli crunch salad and this mixed greens with cranberry vinaigrette salad.

I love the combination of the earthy flavor of the greens with the sweet and tangy flavors of mandarin oranges and cranberries.

How to make it

When you're preparing several dishes for a big feast, you need at least one that is super simple to put together. This is that dish!

Start with the greens

I like mixed salad greens for this salad but you could use spring mix, spinach, or even chopped hearts of romaine. Choose what you like and what is available to you.

I used a 5 ounce container of mixed salad greens which comes out to about 8 cups. If your greens aren't washed already, put them in a big bowl covered with water, and then swish them around for a minute or so. The grit should drop to the bottom leaving your greens nice and clean.

I would recommend putting the clean greens in a salad spinner, if you have one, to get them nice and dry. If you don't have a salad spinner, just pat it dry with paper towels.

Add the greens to a large serving bowl.

Add the fruit

Fruit in salad is just so good! Because there are fewer in-season fruit options in November here in Minnesota, I use mandarin oranges, pear slices and dried cranberries. I have also made this with apple slices (honey crisp apples are especially good!)

If you are making this salad in advance, I would recommend waiting to add the pear (or apple) until you are ready to serve as these fruits do tend to brown once they're cut.

I toss half of each of the fruits into the mixed salad greens and then top the salad with the remaining. Otherwise, they all tend to fall to the bottom of the salad.

Make the dressing

I love this dressing! It is sweet and tangy and it makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

To make it, start by re-hydrating the dried cranberries with hot water. After about 30 minutes, they can be pureed with some of the reserved mandarin orange juice. I use my Magic Bullet for this job. It's so easy to set up and clean up when I'm done.

Once you've pureed the cranberries and juice together, add the sugar, salt, pepper, vinegar, and mustard and mix well. At this point, you can taste it to see if you want more salt or pepper.

Finally, add in the olive oil and blend well.

I like to keep this in a glass jar until I'm ready to serve the salad. You could even keep it on the side and let your guests decide how much dressing they want. Although, if you do this, you might need to double the dressing recipe!

If you have extra dressing, you can keep it in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks (another reason to make extra!)

Serving suggestions

This salad is often part of our Thanksgiving menu but, once you've made the dressing, it's easy enough to have every day!

This salad would be delicious topped with leftover turkey from your Thanksgiving feast or a grilled chicken breast.

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