This mandarin almond salad recipe is so easy and so absolutely delicious, you will make it over and over again.
Like most salads, you don’t have to stick to the exact ingredients, which is why I have offered you so many variations that will taste very good as well.
The traditional lettuce for this salad is a soft butter lettuce, but you can also use romaine.
It tastes wonderful with spinach as well, although baby spinach is best. It is the spinach version you see in the image above.
You can use fresh mandarin oranges, but the canned ones are juicy and already peeled so much easier to use.
Watch closely as you toast the almonds. They can move quickly from golden to burnt.
Mandarin Almond Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 can mandarin orange sections, drained
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds, or whole blanched almonds
- baby spinach, romaine lettuce or butter lettuce, torn into bite size pieces
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Place the almonds on a baking sheet and toast for a few minutes until golden brown. Watch every closely as they can quickly burn. Allow the almonds to cool.
- Whisk all the dressing ingredients together. Toss the dressing with the lettuce and add the orange sections. Sprinkle the almonds over top of the salad and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Tips and Variations:
- This recipe can easily be doubled, tripled or quadrupled to serve as many as you would like.
- Use chopped cashews in place of the almonds as in the image.
- Some people add sliced red or green grapes to the salad.
- This salad is a nice addition to a buffet table.
- You can also “toast” the almonds in a dry frying pan over low heat.
This is a good diabetic recipe, especially using the spinach, as spinach is so high in nutrients. You can leave the sugar out of the dressing. It will still be good.
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Used lettuce mix with baby spinach added, cashews/ sunflower seeds, used trivia instead of sugar. Great for our families as several had diabetes. Delicious!
Thanks AJ. I love this salad too.