With all the heavy foods that land on a holiday table, a salad featuring fresh greens is a welcome palate cleanser. The last thing you want to set among the sparkling dishes are plastic bottles of store-bought salad dressing. That’s where this week’s recipe comes in: Make Orange-Infused Cranberry Sauce, and then set aside a little to blend into an easy, flavorful dressing that fits the homecooked theme.
You could use any cranberry sauce for this salad dressing, but it builds on the ginger and citrus notes in my homemade version. A food processor rapidly smooths the hand-crushed fruit and oil into a creamy emulsion. If yours lacks a feed tube, add the ingredients in stages and pulse the blades until they combine. A little extra honey can help to emulsify the oil and acid, but leave it out if your sauce is already quite sweet.
With such a flavor-packed dressing, the salad can stay simple. Orange slices and perhaps fresh cranberries give pops of color and texture from ingredients you’re already handling. Red onions and toasted nuts add crunch, and a little cheese provides rich creaminess while keeping the salad light.
If you lack space for this salad on the holiday table, it’s a delicious contrast as you work through the feast’s leftovers. As a bonus, adding vinegar and oil to leftover homemade cranberry sauce extends its fridge life by a couple of weeks.
Spinach Salad with Cranberry Sauce Dressing
Serves 4
2 medium oranges
1/4 cup cranberry sauce
1 teaspoon chopped shallot
1-1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey (optional)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup sunflower oil
For the salad:
8 ounces spinach, torn into bite-size pieces as needed
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced almonds or chopped pecans, toasted
4 ounces blue cheese or feta, crumbled
2 tablespoons fresh or dried cranberries (optional)
Squeeze the juice from one orange, and peel and thinly slice the other orange; set aside. In a small food processor, blend the cranberry sauce and shallot until smooth. With the machine running, slowly pour the orange juice, vinegar and honey, if desired, through the feed tube and process until well blended. Taste, adding salt and pepper as needed. With the food processor running, slowly pour the oil through the feed tube, blending until thick and creamy.
Place the spinach in a large bowl; add the onion and reserved orange slices. Sprinkle with the toasted nuts. Crumble in the cheese, and toss gently to combine. Just before serving, toss the salad again with the dressing until evenly coated. Alternatively, divide the salad among plates, sprinkle with fresh or dried cranberries, if desired, and serve the dressing on the side.
Transfer any leftover dressing to a lidded jar or bottle and store in the refrigerator, where it will keep for several weeks. Shake well or blend again before serving.
Julie Laing is a Bigfork-based cookbook author and food blogger at TwiceAsTasty.com.