There are times when you need to clean out the vegetable crisper drawer and put together a big salad. I have done it many times to use up a bit of this and pieces of that. But there are other times when your salad needs to be simpler and more intentional. That is the beauty of a nice Mesclun mix of salad greens, some toasted pecan halves and sections of juicy sweet mandarin oranges. It is beautiful, easy and delicious. The right salad dressing for the concoction is just as easy. I pull out a clean canning jar, add the ingredients, give it a vigorous shaking and the salad is ready to serve in a flash.
Dressing for Mandarin Orange Pecan Salad
Yield: 6 servings
Mesclun mix
Toasted pecan halves
Mandarin orange sections, drained if canned
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
4 teaspoons honey
3/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
1/8 teaspoon garlic or onion salt
Place the Mesclun mix, pecans and orange sections in a large bowl. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the oil, vinegar, honey, mustard, poppy seeds and salt. Shake to emulsify and drizzle over the salad. Toss to evenly coat and serve immediately.
Haute Flavor 