Since around 2 years ago, it has been a tradition of mine to make a Christmas Salad for my office colleagues, my in-laws and my own family. I stumbled upon this recipe on Youtube 2 years ago (though I can no longer find the youtuber who shared it), I made it, I loved it so much, and hence I decided to make it every year for Christmas!
This Christmas Salad is meant to be paired with other dishes on the Christmas Feat table. Hence, I did not add any meat to it. It is meant to be a refreshing salad that complements other dishes and consists of mainly vegetables and nuts.
Here is the recipe for my once-a-year Christmas Salad!
Salad Ingredients
- 1x large Carrot (or 2x medium sized carrots)
- 1 Packet of baby spinach
- 4 small lettuces (any lettuce from the Western Region is will do fine)
- Cinamon Honey Baked Walnuts (Here’s the recipe for this!)
- 1x Pomegranate (I would recommend including this in as this adds a certain star quality to the Christmas Salad)
- 1-2 Apples
Salad Sauce Ingredients
Candied Walnuts Ingredients
Step-by-Step Guide to making the Christmas Salad
Part 1: Prepare the Salad Ingredients
Step 1: First wash these ingredients thoroughly with water and some salt: 1x Carrot, 1 large baby spinach, 4 small lettuces, 1x pomegranate, 2x medium apples.
Sep 2: It’s time to prep all the ingredients. Use a vegetable slicer to slice the carrot into little strips. / Pull out all the baby spinach leaves, place them in a large bowl and give them a rinse again. / Use a knife to chop the small lettuces into small chunks. / Remove all the pomegrate seeds and place them in a bowl. / Chop the 2x medium apples into bite size pieces.
Step 3: Place all the ingredients you have prepped into a salad spinner to get rid of excess water. Spin a few times and leave it there while you prep the salad sauce and candied walnuts.
Part 2: Prepare the candied walnuts
Step 4: It’s time to make the candied walnuts. Spread a cup of raw walnuts on your chopping board. Use a knife to chop the walnuts into smaller bits.
Step 5: Grab a bowl and add all the candied walnuts ingredients (other than the walnuts) together. Give it a good mix.
Step 6: Add the chopped walnuts into the mixing bowl and give it another good mix until all the walnuts are coated with all the honey cinamon saucy goodness.
Step 7: Add all the ‘marinated’ walnuts to a baking tray (with a baking sheet laid out of course), spread them out evenly.
Step 8: Place the ‘marinated’ walnuts into a 200 degree celcius pre-heated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Part 3: Make the Salad Dressing
Step 9: While waiting for the candied walnuts to be baked, it is not time to make the salad sauce. Add all the salad sauce ingredients to a bowl and give it a good mix.
Step 10: Once the salad sauce ingredients have been properly mixed, it is now time to pour them into a salad dressing container / squeeze bottle / or anything else that you can easily pour the salad sauce out from at a steady pace.
Step 11: Once the candied walnuts are in the oven for 15 minutes, it is time to remove them from the oven. Careful, when you remove the tray, as it is piping hot!
Step 12: It is best to only mix the salad and salad dressing together only around 1 hour before you plan to eat or serve it. If you do not plan to eat it yet, place both the salad and salad dressing in the fridge. It is okay to leave the candied walnuts out at room temperature.
Step 13: 1 hour before you plan to serve the salad, remove it from the fridge. It is time to start mixing the salad and salad dressing together! Do not simply pour the sauce into the salad all at one go. Instead, it is better to place the salad, a handful at a time, into another large bowl, and drizzle the proportionate amount of salad dressing for each handful. This ensures that your entire salad is evenly coated with all the salad dressing goodness. For the candied walnuts, you can either include them in this process or serve them seperately. It’s your choice!
Step 14: You’re done with making the Christmas Salad. It is time to serve it!
I hope that you will enjoy this Christmas Salad as much as I do. Have a wonderful holiday season!