Avo-Cran-Orange Salad

You've heard it, I've heard it, we've all heard it: salads suck, salads are boring, salads aren't worth the effort, blah, blah, blah. But is all this salad hate even warranted? Personally, I'm a salad lover and I find them to be among my favourite dishes to make on a humid summer day. Salads are full of fibre, they can help with weight control, they can help lower blood pressure and can aid in your intake of healthy fats (more avocados please). I'm not here to tell you that you should drop the burger and opt for a salad instead (okay, well maybe I'm trying to tell you that a little bit). I'm merely trying to tell you that salads can be awesome and totally worth your time, plus you should add more of them into your diet because of all the health benefits they provide.

So say hello to the Avo-Cran-Orange Salad. It works great as a single meal on a hot summer day, or as a dish to bring to a BBQ potluck. This salad is one of my favourite go-tos because it's got so many great things going on: Healthy fats? Check. Vitamin C? Check. Fibre? Check. Great Taste? Check! This salad is one you'd be crazy to call boring, unsatisfying or overly complicated. It's got just the right balance of sweet, with a lot of great texture between the avocado, toasted almonds and cranberries.

This recipe also includes ingredients for a homemade lemon-honey-mustard vinaigrette dressing, which you totally have to make. Why you ask? FYI if you go and make a salad and then slather on some store-bought dressing, you basically counteract all of the positive health benefits to making and eating said salad. Store-bought dressings are often packed with highly processed oils (i.e. soybean and canola), sugars or high fructose syrups and preservatives - yikes! Read more here. Try this salad out this summer and let me know what you think!

Avo-Cran-Orange Salad

Vegan Prep Time: 15-20 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 1 large salad bowl (or 4 single servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 large head of Romaine lettuce (approx. 7-8 cups)

• 2 medium Navel or Valencia oranges (cut into eighths)

• 2 avocados (cut into eighths)

• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted and candied

• 2 tablespoons organic sugar

Dressing Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard (I used French's)

• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard (I used French's)

• 2 tablespoons raw, unpasteurized honey, or agave nectar

• juice of 1 medium orange (so you'll need 3 in total)

• juice of 1/2 a lemon

• freshly ground salt and pepper for taste

Directions:

1. First, wash and rip up your romaine lettuce into nice bite-sized pieces.

2. Next, you're going to toast your sliced almonds in sugar. In a fry-pan on medium heat, add the 2 tablespoons of sugar with the 1/2 cup sliced almonds. I like to layer here, adding a light layer of sugar on the bottom, pouring on the almonds, then topping with another light layer of sugar.

3. After about 5 minutes the sugar will begin to melt, and once the melting begins, you'll need to begin stirring and mixing the almonds, trying your best to evenly toast and coat them in the melted sugar. Continue for another 3-4 minutes approximately, until golden brown or until you've toasted the almonds to your liking.

4. Next make your dressing by combining all dressing ingredients in a bowl.

5. To finish (depending on what size of salad you are making: a large salad for multiple people or a smaller individual salad), mix all or some of the romaine lettuce with the honey-mustard dressing, top with cranberries, orange slices, avocado slices, toasted candied almonds, and maybe a bit more dressing and that's it!

#salad #saladrecipe #saladideas #easysalad #meatlesssalad #sss