Here’s a great salad that is perfect for the holidays and winter months: mixed greens tossed with chicken, candied pecans, dried cranberries, crisp apple, tangy blue cheese and a honey-dijon vinaigrette. It’s beautiful, festive and delicious!

For the greens, I used a bag of mixed baby spring greens that included romaine, oak leaf, chard, arugula, frisee and radicchio, and half of a bag of mixed greens that included chopped butter lettuce and radicchio. Also, I didn’t chop the lettuce leaves because I was in a hurry. Next time, I’ll do the chopped version. I found candied pecans at Trader Joe’s. Enjoy!

Winter Chopped Salad
-recipe from Seriously Simple Holidays by Diane Rossen Worthington

Serves 6 as a first course or 8 as a main course (I think it really serves much more than that!)

Dressing:
1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Salad:
1 head radicchio, cored and finely chopped (the red lettuce)
2 heads romaine lettuce, light green and white leaves only, finely chopped
1 1/4 pounds cooked chicken breasts, skin & bones removed and cut into 1-inch dice (about 3 cups)
1 Fuji, Gala, or Pink Lady apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup candied pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup crumbled blue or fresh goat cheese
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Make the dressing: in a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, honey, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Place the radicchio, romaine, chicken, apple, cranberries, nuts and cheese in a large salad bowl.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Sprinkle with pepper (if desired) and serve.

Advance preparation:
Make the dressing up to 2 days ahead, cover, and keep at room temperature. Whisk well before using. Make the salad up to 4 hours ahead, cover, and refrigerate. Toss with dressing right before serving.

The Clever Cook Could:
* Substitute 3 cups diced cooked turkey for the chicken
* Add 6 strips of bacon, fried until crisp and crumbled.
* Omit the chicken and serve the salad as a first course
* If you’re not a fan of chopped salad, tear the leaves into bite-size pieces instead of finely chopping them.

I’m linked to:
Delicious Dishes,
Home for the Holidays,

Tags: apple, blue cheese, candied pecans, candied walnuts, dried cranberries, mixed baby greens, radicchio, romaine, vinaigrette, winter chopped salad

Wow…this salad is good! The dressing is smoky, slightly sweet and slightly spicy with a nice tang from the balsamic vinegar. I love the combination of southwestern flavors: cilantro, chipotle, avocado, red onion, corn.

I used a mixture of baby romaine and regular romaine lettuces. Other good additions to the salad would be chopped red pepper, diced tomato or sliced green olives. Handy Hint: Since the recipe only calls for 1 chipotle chile, you can freeze the remaining chiles and sauce. I put a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet, then I place 1 or 2 chiles in a mound and spoon a little adobo sauce over them. Continue this with the remaining chiles then put the cookie sheet in the freezer. Once frozen, remove the little chipotle mounds from the wax paper and seal in a freezer baggy or plastic container. Keep frozen and thaw out what you need when a recipe calls for chipotle chiles.

Baby Romaine Salad with Spicy Chicken & Warm Chipotle Vinaigrette
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

Serves four.

6 oz. baby romaine, washed and spun dry (about 8 loosely packed cups)
1/4 lb. iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced, washed and spun dry (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
1 chipotle chile (from a can of chipotles in adobo sauce), chopped, plus 2 Tbs. adobo sauce
3 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. light brown sugar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 cup plus 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. fine cornmeal (preferably white)
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1-1/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3 small), cut crosswise into 1-inch-thick strips
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced into half moons
1 ripe avocado, cut into 3/4-inch dice
1-1/2 cups cooked fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels (from about 2 ears)
1 lime, cut into quarters

Toss the romaine, iceberg, and half of the cilantro in a large bowl. In a blender or food processor, purée the chipotle chile and adobo sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, brown sugar, and mustard. With the machine running, slowly pour in 1/2 cup of the oil. Transfer to a measuring cup; season to taste with salt and pepper.

In a shallow dish, mix the flour, cornmeal, chili powder, and cumin with 1-1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. black pepper. Season the chicken with 1 tsp. salt and then dredge in the flour mixture.

Heat 2 Tbs. of the remaining oil in a heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until it’s shimmering, about 1 minute. Add half of the chicken strips, evenly spaced, and cook without touching for 2 min. Flip and cook until the strips are just cooked through and firm to the touch, 1 to 2 min. Transfer to a large plate lined with ­paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining 1 Tbs. oil, and cook the remaining strips in the same manner.

Discard the fat from the pan and wipe it clean with paper ­towels. Set the pan over low heat, add the vinaigrette, and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula, until warmed through, about 1 min. Return the vinaigrette to a liquid measuring cup and whisk to recombine.

Gently toss the greens with about 14 cup of the vinaigrette or enough to lightly coat. Portion among four plates and top with the chicken, onion, avocado, corn, and the remaining 1/4 cup cilantro. Drizzle with some of the remaining vinaigrette (you may not need it all) and serve with lime wedges on the side for squeezing over the salads.

Tags: chicken salad, chipotle, romaine, Salad, spicy