Winter Salad With Mandarins And Goat Cheese

This is one of my favorite winter fruit salads to make. The greens are slightly bitter, The mandarins and cranberries are sweet and tangy, and the goat cheese adds a creamy contrast to the dressing.

Winter Salad With Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing.

• Yield: 2 to 3 servings
• Prep Time: 15 minutes

Equipment

• Blender
• Large Mixing Bowl

Ingredients

For The Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

• 90 ml / 3 ounces grapeseed oil
• 30 ml / 1 ounce extra virgin olive oil
• 60 ml / 2 ounces white balsamic vinegar
• 140 grams / 4.8 ounces frozen raspberries
• 75 grams / 2.6 ounces sugar
• a couple pinches of kosher salt
• 35 grams / 1.2 ounces water, or as needed

For The Winter Salad

• 3 mandarins, cut into supremes or 120 grams canned mandarins segments
• 8 cups mixed greens, loosely packed - about 200 grams or 7 ounces
• 1/4 large red onion, sliced thin
• 50 grams / 1.7 ounces toasted walnuts, pieces and halves
• 50 grams / 1.7 ounces dried cranberries
• 50 grams / 1.7 ounces goat cheese
  
• Kosher salt and cracked pepper, to taste

Method

For The Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

1. In a measuring cup combine the grapeseed oil and the extra virgin olive oil, set aside.
2. In the bowl of your blender add the white balsamic vinegar, raspberries, sugar and a couple pinches of kosher salt, and blend on medium speed. Increase the speed to high and puree.
3. With the blender running, remove the lid and slowly drizzle the oil into the raspberry mixture. If the dressing is too thick to smoothly puree drizzle a little water into the dressing to thin it out. See notes.

For The Winter Salad

1. Using a utility knife cut both ends off the mandarins and stand the them on one end. Make thin slices following the contour of the fruit, to remove the skin, pith, and outer skin of the segments. When the fruit is completely peeled slice along each side of the segments to remove them from the inner skin. Set Aside. These are called supremes.
2. Add the mixed greens,  red onion, and about half of the walnuts, dried cranberries and mandarins segments, to the mixing bowl. Reserve a few of the mandarin segments and some of the cranberries and walnuts to put on top of the salads.
3. Season with salt and pepper and gently toss to distribute everything. Add a little of the dressing and toss again to thoroughly coat the greens.
4. Plate the salads by mounding onto  a chilled plate. Top with a little more dressing as desired and arrange a few mandarin segments on the salads. Sprinkle with a some cranberries and walnuts.
5. Crumble some goat cheese over each salad and serve.

Notes

1. Only use enough water to produce a thick vinaigrette, you don't necessarily need to use all of it.
2. After you create the supremes the left over inner skin of the mandarins can be saved for a pulled pork braise. Just put them into a sealed bag and pop them into the freezer.
3. If you use canned mandarins be sure to drain them before use.