{"id":52315,"date":"2024-09-26T18:15:38","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T22:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondflourblog.com\/?p=52315"},"modified":"2024-09-26T18:15:38","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T22:15:38","slug":"christmas-salad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondflourblog.com\/christmas-salad\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Salad"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Orange Glazed Chicken Christmas Salad is a tasty, beautiful holiday season meal. This festive salad is simple to make, but looks and tastes fancy & elegant! It\u2019s the perfect salad for a holiday dinner party.<\/p>\n

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A few months ago, I went on a big salad making kick, turning out all kinds of tasty, gorgeous salads - I recently posted the Harvest Chicken Salad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With the weather turning chilly lately, I figured it\u2019s time to share another winter salad from that time - a beautiful Christmas salad, specifically.<\/p>\n

Mandarin oranges have been my absolute favorite food of the holiday season for as long as I can remember. Now that we\u2019ve moved back to Canada - we\u2019ll usually have a big box of them under the Christmas tree for easy gorging... I mean snacking!<\/p>\n

When brainstorming ideas for the best Christmas salads, obviously I was going to need to include them in this easy salad, which is bursting with different colours, flavours, and textures.\t<\/p>\n

IMHO, it\u2019s a great holiday meal for Christmas Eve, and the ideal salad to serve at small get togethers throughout the Christmas season.<\/p><\/div>\n

Not feeling up to putting on a whole holiday dinner? Skip the Christmas ham, turkey, prime rib - or beef tenderloin - main dish, and just cook up these mandarin glazed chicken breasts instead.<\/p>\n

Whip up the simple salad base, and you\u2019re done!<\/p>\n

We\u2019re probably going with a main course holiday salad this year, to be honest. A festive salad is a lot less effort than making the whole holiday menu!<\/p>\n

Also, with the tangy flavors of the goat cheese and pomegranates, the sweet flavor of the mandarin glaze and salad dressing, the fresh flavors from the bed of greens, and the beautiful presentation featuring colors of the season?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just a beauty of a salad!<\/p>\n

Anyway, let\u2019s get to this festive Christmas salad recipe!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Christmas Salad Ingredients<\/h2>\n

While some of the fresh ingredients can be somewhat seasonal, you shouldn\u2019t have much trouble finding what you need in larger local grocery stores.<\/p>\n

A few ingredients notes for you:<\/p>\n

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts<\/h4>\n

I use boneless chicken breasts, but you can sub in boneless skinless chicken thighs, if you prefer.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll usually allot 2 boneless chicken thighs per person - just keep an eye on them while roasting, as they\u2019ll generally cook a bit faster than chicken breasts.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mandarin Oranges<\/h4>\n

When making this recipe, I tend to use mandarin oranges in two forms - fresh and canned.<\/p>\n

I love the flavour of fresh mandarins in the glaze and dressing. They\u2019re not usually particularly juicy oranges, though, so I puree whole oranges with water to come up with the orange juice.<\/p>\n

In the salad itself, I like to use canned Mandarin Orange Segments<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mandarins don\u2019t really \u201csupreme\u201d well, and I\u2019m far too lazy to peel that many mandarin segments. Canned is perfectly fine!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Pomegranate Arils<\/h4>\n

AKA \u201cPomegranate Seeds\u201d. <\/p>\n

I definitely recommend buying a whole pomegranate whenever possible, over buying the little containers of just the arils.<\/p>\n

Maybe I have bad luck, but any time I\u2019ve purchased the containers, the arils have started fermenting.<\/p>\n

Not sure how to deal with juicy pomegranates? Check out my tutorial on How to Cut and Serve Pomegranate<\/a>.<\/div>\n

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Fresh Greens<\/h4>\n

There\u2019s a LOT of room to customize when choosing your salad greens for the base of this recipe.<\/p>\n

Feel free to use a bagged spring mix, or put together your own mix of field greens.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll usually add some red \u201cgreens\u201d - it just makes it a bit more festive than an all-green salad, IMHO.<\/p>\n

I also like to add a LITTLE of something with a bit more kick - some peppery arugula, usually.<\/p>\n

Use whatever you like, have access to, and looks the freshest when purchasing!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Goat Cheese<\/h4>\n

I like to use a creamy goat cheese for this, as I like the flavour and texture it brings to the salad.<\/p>\n

Here in Canada, our goat cheese tends to have a bit more bite than goat cheese in the USA does. <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re down there and would like a bit more tang from your cheese, you can sub feta cheese, probably even blue cheese - if that\u2019s your thing.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Everything Else<\/h4>\n

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:<\/p>\n

A Red Onion
\nShelled Pistachios<\/a> (Can sub Pine Nuts<\/a>)
\nHoney or Maple Syrup
\nOlive Oil
\nDijon mustard
\nApple Cider Vinegar
\nSalt and Pepper<\/p>\n

... I just don\u2019t have anything to add, as far as these last few ingredients go!<\/p><\/div>\n

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