Christmas Salads

Christmas Salad Tips

Sweet and savory salads are a great way to dress up the dinner table.  Gone are the days of lettuce-only salads.  Adding fruits and nuts to your mixed greens is a great way to pump up the flavor and add some holiday color.  Here are a few ideas to get you started:  Sweet Cranberry & Pear Tossed Salad, Fruit & Almond Salad, Sunshine Citrus Salad and Strawberry-Candied Pecan Salad.

Toasting nuts adds crunch and intensifies their flavor.  To toast nuts in the oven, spread nuts in single layer in shallow pan.  Bake at 350°F for 10 to 15 min. or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Considered one of nature’s most labor-intensive fruits, the pomegranate is a popular fruit of the season.  Inside the fruit’s leathery skin are hundreds of seeds, surrounded by a brilliant-red pulp.  The seeds can be used in a fruit or vegetable salad, or as a garnish.  The juice can be extracted, as well, and lends a beautiful jewel-toned color when added to a myriad of beverages.  Here are three ways you can incorporate pomegranates into your holiday festivities this year:

• Pomegranates make a dramatic centerpiece for the holiday table, thanks to their beautiful shape and color.  Simply fill a metallic or clear bowl with the whole fruit and incorporate fresh pine boughs for an elegant red-and-green-themed centerpiece.
• Add pomegranate seeds to a salad.  Try Mixed Green Salad with Warm Cream Cheese “Croutons”, Special Spinach Salad or Romaine Salad with Spicy Peanuts & Pomegranate Seeds.
• Use pomegranate juice or seeds in a JELL-O salad.  Vanilla Cream with Pomegranate Raspberry Stars and Mango-Pomegranate Gelatin Dessert are two of our favorites.

Salads are best served chilled.  Consider chilling your salad plates and forks in the refrigerator before serving the salad course.

To keep salad greens from getting soggy, combine all ingredients except dressing and toss just before serving.

Salads do not necessarily have to have “greens” to be considered a salad.  Consider these options for a change of pace:  Apple, Pecan and Gorgonzola Side Salad or Fiesta Salad with Creamy Orange Dressing.

If you love the classic version of Watergate Salad, just wait until you taste Low-Fat Watergate Salad.  It has all the flavor of the original in a low-fat version!