Eating a good salad leaves us with a fantastic clean feeling that sometimes borders on a high. Especially if the salad tasted good enough that you never remember it’s all raw and healthy. Adding a little fruit in salads does that for us. It adds a hint of sweetness, rounds out flavors and adds lovely textures too.

This Orange and Almond salad recipe was shared with us by Jennifer Schmitz from Chicago when we tried this at her home and loved the salad so much. The oranges add a sweet tang to cut the mild sharpness from the spring onions and the almond brittle adds a surprise crunch in every mouthful. Try it!

Orange and Almond Salad

Ingredients

1/4 cup Slivered Almonds
4 tsp Sugar
1 head of Lettuce, torn into bite size pieces (you can use any kind you like, romaine, iceberg or even baby spinach)
1 cup Celery, chopped
2 Spring Onions, chopped
1 11 ounce can Mandarin Oranges, drained (reserve 1 tbs for dressing)
OR
3 Navel Oranges, Mousambi or even Kinnu, peeled and sectioned
2 tbs Vinegar
2 tbs Sugar
1 tbs Parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of Pepper
1/2 cup Vegetable oil

Directions:

To make almond brittle, heat almonds in 4 tsp sugar over low heat in a heavy bottomed pan, stirring constantly, until sugar is melted and almonds are coated. Let cool on a plate. Break apart and store at room temperature.

Combine vinegar, 2 tbs sugar, parsley, salt, pepper, 1 tbs orange juice (optional) and oil in a screw top jar. Shake well to mix and store in the refrigerator for at least 3 hrs or overnight.

To construct the salad, combine lettuces, celery, green onion and oranges and toss with dressing when you’re ready to serve. Add the candied almonds and toss lightly.

Note: We’ve tried a simpler version of this by substituting plain walnuts for the almond brittle. We’ve even added feta once in a while for a change. Both worked out great.