Wake up your tastebuds with this Winter Salad recipe. A crisp mix of seasonal veggies, chicken, and walnuts is covered in a delightful vinaigrette with a spicy kick.
Winter Salad – Full of Flavor and Seasonal Veggies
This healthy + hearty salad is a combination of fresh bitter greens, shaved Brussel sprouts, and warm sweet potato spirals is paired. Plus, we’ve topped it with tender grilled chicken, green onions, and crunchy walnuts.
Ingredients Needed:
- Red leaf lettuce or dark green lettuce mix
- Grilled chicken
- Brussel sprouts
- Sweet potato spirals
- Walnuts
- Green onions
- Cranberries – can use fresh or frozen whole berries
- Canned chipotle pepper
- Oil – salad oil or light olive oil
- Apple cider vinegar
- Honey
- Garlic
- Salt & pepper
TIP: Any spiral or sliced seasonal vegetables will work in place of the sweet potatoes. Mushrooms would be delish.
The flavors and textures of this salad are amazing. Every bite is a surprise. Use your favorite greens. For me, I wanted a bitter undertone to pair with the sweet potatoes and the tart and smoky Cranberry Chipotle Vinaigrette. I picked a red lettuce variety. For extra flavor and color, sprinkle some fresh Brussel sprouts.
Although you can certainly make your salad strictly vegetarian, I topped mine with protein-packed tender grilled chicken slices. My favorite bite? A forkful of greens, chicken, sweet potato, and the zesty homemade vinaigrette. (Get the two-minute recipe at the bottom of this post.)
Isn’t the bold color of this vinaigrette gorgeous?
How to Make this Winter Salad + Cranberry Chipotle Vinaigrette:
- First, in a blender (or using a hand held blender), pulse all vinaigrette ingredients until smooth. Let rest 15 minutes for the flavors to develop.
- Arrange the salad greens, chicken, and toppings as desired.
- Serve with the prepared Cranberry Chipotle Vinaigrette.
TIP: Use a hand held immersion blender to make this dressing easy.
The crunch comes from the fresh sprouts, slightly warmed sweet potato spirals, green onions, and walnuts. The bitter greens pair with the slightly bitter smokiness of the chipotle peppers. Then you get the tangy sweetness from the cranberries in the vinaigrette.
More Recipes You Might Like:
Easy Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Black Eyed Pea Chili
Boom Boom Stuffed Mushrooms
Tips + Ideas:
- Use marinated grilled steak with grilled red peppers instead of chicken and sweet potatoes.
- Instead of cranberry in the vinaigrette, use pomegranate.
- Don’t like bitter greens? No worries. Use your favorite combination of salad making faves.
- Replace the shaved Brussel sprouts with finely sliced red cabbage.
- Not a fan of walnuts? How about slivered almonds for the crunch this salad needs?
- If you aren’t a fan of vinaigrette, turn your dressing into a Cranberry Chipotle Ranch by blending the cranberries and chipotle with sour cream, a splash of milk and dry ranch seasoning mix.
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Winter Salad with Cranberry Chipotle Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 head red leaf lettuce or other greens
- 2 grilled chicken breasts sliced
- 1/2 cup Brussel sprouts shaved
- 1/2 cup sweet potato spirals or thinly sliced, warmed slightly
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 2 green onions
- 1/2 cup cranberries fresh or frozen
- 1 canned chipotle pepper
- 1/4 cup oil salad oil or light olive oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 Pinch of salt
- 1 Pinch of pepper
Instructions
- In a blender (or using a hand held blender), pulse all vinaigrette ingredients until smooth. Let rest 15 minutes for the flavors to develop.
- Arrange the salad greens, chicken, and toppings as desired. Serve with the prepared Cranberry Chipotle Vinaigrette.
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