Mandarin Crunch Salad

I love a good crunchy green salad! This Mandarin Crunch Salad is made with mixed greens, mandarin oranges, blueberries, spicy pecans (for a nice crunch!), and goat cheese. Toss with my version of a citrusy poppy seed dressing! Easy for entertaining and everyone loves this salad!

Oh, there’s nothing like whipping up a healthy, beautiful, delicious salad. We love to start with mixed greens for this Mandarin Crunch Salad, and a few easy toppings that really make this salad an easy go-to recipe for entertaining, lunch (just add chicken), or to even bring to a potluck. Here’s a quick hint about this salad: The dressing is super easy (to pick up at the store), with my lemon “tip” and it’s always great for last-minute company! It’s also perfect for Easter and spring and summer hosting!

Mandarin Crunch Salad

What gives this salad a nice crunch is the spicy pecans from Trader Joe’s. If you’re not a “spicy” fan, you can always use the candied pecans. Honestly, they are not very spicy at all. Everyone always asks, what are the nuts in this salad? And the combination of sweet orange, blueberries, and goat cheese is out of this world.

Why I love this recipe

• The Mandarin Crunch Salad ingredients are very basic & easy to find.
• You can make it ahead and dress the salad right before serving!
• Swap out the poppyseed dressing for any “sweeter” dressing. It’s easy to find Briannas at any grocery store though.
• I keep a bottle or 2 of this salad dressing in my pantry so I’m always ready to make this salad.

Gather these ingredients

•  Mixed baby greens
• Mandarin oranges, drained
• Fresh blueberries
• Trader Joe’s spicy pecans, chopped
• Red onion, chopped
• Goat cheese
• Briannas poppy seed dressing (buy in most grocery stores)
• Lemon
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Optional: dried cranberries, avocados, or fresh blueberries

How do you make a Mandarin Crunch Salad?

1. Combine greens, drained Mandarin oranges, chopped pecans, red onion, and goat cheese in a salad bowl.
2. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup poppy seed dressing with the juice of a 1/2 lemon. Whisk together.
3. Right before serving, drizzle over the salad; lightly add fresh ground pepper.
4. Optional: add other toppings like dried cranberries, avocados, or fresh blueberries

How do you jazz up a green salad?

The secret is in the dressing … you can keep this poppy seed dressing stocked in your pantry, but you need to add fresh-squeezed lemon to make it light and fresh. And only add a drizzle–don’t drench the salad!

To jazz up a salad, think of these ingredients:

• Greens
• Fruit
• Nuts
• Cheese
• Light dressing

You can also make your own dresssing in this Strawberry Green Salad (great for spring entertaining!) I also love for summer this Green Salad with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette.

Tips and substitutions:

• Salad greens: I usually buy organic mixed greens, which usually includes romaine, oak leaf lettuce, arugula, frisée, and radicchio. Sometimes with spring greens there will be red leaf, and red and green mustard leaves with baby spinach!
• Swap out the blueberries for fresh raspberries or strawberries (sliced). Delish!
• Use any kind of sweet salad dressing (a raspberry vinaigrette would be great, too).
• We love the addition of avocado chunks and dried cranberries.
• If you don’t love goat cheese, you can use feta cheese or bleu cheese. Both are a little stronger in flavor, but with the sweet dressing, it’s a nice balance.
• In just 10 minutes, you have a healthy, delicious salad. You can also add fresh herbs (basil is wonderful) to this salad.
• Keep chilled in the fridge until ready to dress the salad and to serve!

How do you serve a Mandarin Crunch Salad?

We had guests for dinner last week and we served this go-to green salad, Sticky Chicken and Rice, green beans, and this wonderful Lemon Cobbler. It was quite lovely!

More green salads you may want to try:

• Crunchy Green Salad with Dilly Chickpeas and Avocado [FoodieCrush]
• Green Goddess Salad Dressing [Kalyn’s Kitchen]
• Greenhouse Salad
• Skinny Salmon Green Salad

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Mandarin Crunch Salad

This Mandarin Crunch Salad is made with mixed greens, mandarin oranges, blueberries, spicy pecans (for a nice crunch!), and goat cheese.

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 10 minutes mins

Yield: 4

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Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• 1 large bag mixed baby greens, 12 ounces or more
• 1 can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• ½ pkg Trader Joe’s spicy pecans, chopped
• ¼ cup red onion, chopped
• 4 oz goat cheese
• ½ cup Briannas poppy seed dressing, or more, for dressing
• ½ lemon, squeezed, juiced
• Freshly ground black pepper

Optional toppings:

• dried cranberries, avocados, fresh fennel (sliced)

Instructions

 

• Combine greens, drained Mandarin oranges, blueberries, chopped pecans, red onion, and goat cheese in a salad bowl.
• In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup poppy seed dressing with the juice of a 1/2 lemon. Whisk together.
• Right before serving, drizzle over the salad; lightly add fresh ground pepper.
• Additional toppings like dried cranberries, avocados, or sliced fennel.

Notes

Keep Briannas Poppy Seed Dressing stocked in your pantry!

Reposted from March 2019.

Cuisine: American

Course: Salad

Author: Sandy / Reluctant Entertainer

Calories: 269kcal, Carbohydrates: 24g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 17g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 26mg, Sodium: 380mg, Potassium: 233mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 18g, Vitamin A: 1086IU, Vitamin C: 35mg, Calcium: 77mg, Iron: 1mg

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