Ok, so it turns out this post was just sitting in draft status for the past four months because I thought I had already published it! Thankfully, it’s a salad that can be made pretty easily all year round. It’s not exactly our new favorite salad anymore because we have made it so many times, but it’s still just as delicious!
When planning our meals each week, Jason and I try to include at least one “easy” meal to account for busier evenings. Lots of times the easy meal is a salad. As an entree, however, a plain garden salad just won’t do. We had gotten a little bored with our harvest salad, so I set out to find something new to try.
I was looking for something that would be substantial enough to stand on its own as an entree, as well as something unique and spring-like. I have always felt like spinach was a little more “meaty” than lettuce (and I just happen to love it), so this Spinach, Orange, and Almond salad by Emeril Lagasse really caught my eye. Between the almonds, spinach, and oranges, this seemed like a pretty filling salad.
The flavor combination is just perfect. There’s a great play between sweet and sour, and there’s a little bit of heat that’s just right. The dressing isn’t at all overpowering. Flavor profile aside though, I know I have a winner when Jason wants to have a meal again the following week!
Granted, it’s a little more labor-intensive than salads usually are. But totally worth it. You will notice from the photo that I didn’t cut the orange into “supremes” as the recipe suggests. Sometimes I do, but other times I just don’t feel like getting knuckle deep in orange juice. I like the supremes better, but Jason doesn’t seem to have a preference.
One swap I make to the recipe is white wine vinegar for the champagne vinegar. White wine vinegar was all I could find at my grocery store, so that’s what I went with. I’ve never tasted champagne vinegar, but I feel like the white wine vinegar is just as good. Oh and if you have a silpat, it works great for the candied almonds that top the salad. Plus, you will look very professional if you bust out one of those!
If you happen to try this salad out, let me know how you like it in the comments.
I tried this out and ruined it by burning the almonds! I used up all my almonds so just gave up and never completed the recipe. How do you make those without burning them. Perhaps it had to do with my using a stainless steel pot rather then non stick, or maybe I left them too long…
Sorry you had so much trouble with that! Come to think of it, I have modified the almond cooking process a little because the first couple batches turned out weird. A couple tips:
1) I use a 1qt stainless steel pot. I think nonstick can contribute to problems when making candy type things, as I've had issues with it when making fudge
2) As soon as I see a little bit of color changing in the hot sugar, I remove the pot from the hot burner and stir the almonds in quickly
3) After stirring in the almonds, I put the pot back on the burner and continue stirring them as best I can for maybe 30 seconds and then I dump them out onto the greased surface/silpat and spread them out to cool.
4) I immediately fill the pot with hot water so that it can start soaking for easier cleanup
5) I have found that a silicone tool like a spatula works well for stirring and spreading because the sugar doesn't want to stick to it as much as it does with a wooden spoon
It all happens pretty quickly! As soon as I see just a little bit of color on the edges of the almonds, I get them off the heat and onto the silpat to cool
Ok, so I tried again (prior to reading your response), and this time did not burn the almonds. However I used slivered almonds instead of slices so I ended up not able to pull them apart from one another and had shard like chunks. But I ate it anyway and it was delicious! Best salad I've had in ages. Reminded me of a similar salad my grandmas used to make for us growing up and I didn't realize how much I missed it. Next time I will use the right almonds and silpat (good call). Oh and good call with taking them off the burner for a bit as you stir. You really do have to be quick about the process! Oh and the dressing- I forgot to add the orange zest but it was so delicious. I wonder if this recipe is actually healthy when all is said and done considering the candied nuts and the olive oil… Perhaps I might reduce the amounts of those to make it healthier…
Ahh glad it worked out better! My almonds do turn out like chunks too–it's really like "almond brittle". It goes on the silpat as one giant mass and I just break it into bits by hand after it cools. When I couldn't find sliced almonds, I ended up using whole blanched almonds that I just chopped up before adding them to the sugar and it was just as good.
Jason calculated the calories in this salad once, and I believe it was somewhere in the 300-400 range, but that assumes you like drink every last drop of the dressing too. The olive oil is definitely the major source of calories, though the almonds contribute too. Almonds on their own are kind of high in calories, but they're also brain food!