with candied walnuts, fresh raspberries, goat cheese and cranberry raspberry vinaigrette
I have found the perfect salad to grace your holiday table. Frost the cranberries and tumble them on a bed of spinach with some raspberries, candied walnuts, creamy goat cheese and then drizzle with a lively cranberry raspberry vinaigrette.
The frosted cranberries have been a little thing I have wanted to make for sooo long, ever since I first saw them over at ChinDeep. (I’m sending you over there for the frosted cranberry recipe … if you haven’t met Melissa, you’ll seriously love everything she does! She’ll take good care of you.)
Anyway, I finally took the time to make the frosted cranberries and you know what? They are really quite simple … the only thing is that you do need to plan ahead a bit because they need to soak in the syrup for 8 hours or so.
If you don’t want to take time to make the frosted cranberries, I think dried cranberries would work just as well in this salad. The key is the combination of cranberry, raspberry, creamy goat cheese and crunchy walnuts — and of course, the lovely red drizzle of dressing on top.
Print
Frosted Cranberry Spinach Salad with Raspberries, Candied Walnuts & Goat Cheese
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: About 1 pint of dressing 1x
Ingredients
For the cranberry raspberry vinaigrette:
- 1 2/3 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
- 3/8 cup real maple syrup + 2 Tablespoons rosemary simple syrup OR 1/2 cup maple syrup + a sprig or two of fresh rosemary, chopped fine
- 3/8 cup red wine
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 2 – 3 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon EACH: ground cinnamon, cloves, allspice and ginger
- A pinch of cayenne or chipotle pepper
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
For the salad:
- Fresh baby spinach
- Frosted cranberries (recipe here)
- Candied walnuts (recipe here)
- Fresh raspberries
- Goat cheese crumbles
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, bring the berries, maple syrup and red wine to a boil with a cinnamon stick. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the berries have broken down and the mixture has thickened.
- Remove from heat and let cool. Remove the cinnamon stick, then put the berry mixture along with the rest of the dressing ingredients in a mini food processor and blend until smooth.
- To make the salad, make a bed of spinach, then sprinkle on frosted cranberries, candied walnuts and fresh raspberries. Top with goat cheese crumbles, then drizzle with the dressing and enjoy!
Notes
RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/
© Copyright 2015, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
This recipe was shared at Foodie Friends Friday.
