I haven't made this salad for a long time--I've been distracted with things like Sara's Asian Wonton Salad and Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad. But remember when Sara talked about taking a bite of Black Bean Soup and being whooshed back to Brazil? That's exactly how I felt when I took a bite of this salad. I was immediately transported a few years and 2000 miles back to the apartment my husband and I lived in for three years while he finished school, the one where we brought both our kids home from the hospital, the one where my cooking obsession kind of exploded.
This salad is pretty much a guaranteed hit at parties. My insanely picky 5-year-old eats it with minimal coaxing. My 2-year-old closes her eyes and sighs (she does it when she eats sushi, too...it's pretty darn cute). Plus, it's quick, easy, and cheap--I mean, check out the ingredients:
Doesn't get much better than that, right?
Spinach Mandarin Poppy Seed Salad
Recipe from Our Best Bites
8 oz. (1/2 bag) of baby spinach
1/2-1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 thinly sliced medium red onion
1 large avocado, cubed
8 oz. mozzarella or Swiss cheese, shredded
1 12-oz. package bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 large can Mandarin oranges, drained
Poppy Seed Dressing, to taste
Combine all ingredients except dressing in a large bowl. When ready to serve, toss with desired amount of salad dressing and serve immediately. If you anticipate leftovers, just let your eaters dress their own salads because the dressing will make the greens wilt.
13 Click HERE to leave a comment:
I don't see any green Jell-O, or funeral potatoes on that plate so I'm not seeing Utah! ;) (Born and raised 33 years in Happy Valley) - I'm in TX now and the salad looks yummy! Maybe it's the UT in me ;)
Ah...Shanna beat me to the green Jell-o comment :)
The salad looks delish Kate- that's one of my favorite combos, can't wait to make it!
Yummy. If wish I had all the ingredients to make this a breakfast salad since it is only 8:15am here in Portland. Can't wait for my next potluck invite because I will be bringing this salad.
I make a similar salad, but add teryaki chicken off the BBQ ....mmmmmm,mmmm, good!
You've put everything I like into a salad...AGAIN! Thanks for this and all the excellent recipes you and Sara post (you've made me look pretty brilliant on more than one occasion!)
Oh, I FOR SURE see Utah in this salad. I lived there for about 5 years and this kind of recipe was a standard piece of yumminess. I would put it down right in between the Frog Eye Salad and the Layered Cool Whip & Chocolate Pudding Dessert on the buffet table!
Yum! Wouldn't want to live there again, but I'll eat their food any day! ;)
I agree, it is Utah area. Now that we don't live there I forget about that kind of stuff for a bit, but come back to it.
People here are so amazed that Jello can be used in so many ways and ask for the recipies, lol. Thanks for bringing it home!
This recipe looked so great I ran out & bought the ingredients we didn't have on hand and shuffled our dinner menus to make it last night. It was yummy! We tossed everything but the bacon together and let the carnivores add their own bacon (or eat just bacon, in the case of certain four year olds).
I was SUPER excited when you posted the poppy seed dressing recipe the other day because I love it with that salad and it pretty much made my day today to see this recipe follow the dressing recipe. I can't wait to make this. This salad is the best. Thank you! :)
Oh yum. We are very into salads these days. We'll be trying this one!
I made this salad for a Mothers Day luncheon at church a couple of days ago. I made two batches and we ran out. I would say if you are making it for a lot of people, my two batches were enough for about 40 women. I didn't get any, didn't even taste it after I made it because I was so busy running around getting set up for the ladies in RS. So, tonight, two days later, I made it for my family so that I could taste it. UNBELIEVABLE salad. I loved the fresh dressing. I saw this same salad with chicken and nuts using basically the same dressing too. You could be versitle with it.
My niece & I tried this salad today for lunch and it was yummy!! We changed it around a bit by adding fresh strawberries, leaving the cheese off & adding sesame seeds to the dressing instead of poppy seeds, but was it ever good. Wewill definitely be having it again!
Great work, ladies!
Leslie
I made this for a salad potluck and was so glad! Yes, like most salads, you could subsitute the mandarin oranges for strawberries or craisins or add nuts instead of the bacon, but this combinations of ingredients was really, reeeeeally good. I'm going to be sure to stick with this combo every time. DELISH!
Post a Comment