Memories of a special Valentine’s Day dinner many years ago, at one of my favourite restaurants….and I fell in love…with a salad!

Tis true.

In fact I fell so hard that I’ve been making my own tweaked version of that fabulous dish ever since.

This beautiful and delicious salad is easy to put together yet fancy enough for dinner guests.

I’ve brought it to family gatherings and work potlucks…it’s always a hit.

But why wait for a special occasion?

I make it often for myself, as a lunch entree, and it feels like a treat, even though its just a salad.

Give this one a try! You might just fall in love…

a side note…

This is a salad my friends, you don’t really need to follow the recipe to a T, but rather use this as inspiration.

Sometimes I add a lot more goat cheese (because I loooove goat cheese!), sometimes I use candied or salted nuts (whatever I have on hand) and sometimes I add artichoke hearts or change up the dressing.

The possibilities are endless here, but the basics which are the roasted peppers+nut+goat cheese combo and an italian style dressing are the secret to the fantastic taste here! They go together so well.

Spring Mix Salad with Roasted Red Peppers + Goat Cheese + Nuts

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Spring Mix Salad with Roasted Red Peppers + Goat Cheese + Nuts

Servings: 4

Author: Mary

Ingredients

1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, cashews or mixed nuts
6 cups spring greens salad mix
1 roasted red pepper very thinly sliced
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup goat cheese crumbled
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 small clove garlic minced
1/8 tsp salt or more to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 F, place walnuts or other nuts of your choice, on a small baking sheet and toast them for 3-5 min, being careful not to burn them.
Remove from oven and set aside.
Add washed and dried salad greens to a large bowl.
Top with peppers, cranberries, pumpkin seeds and toasted nuts.
Crumble goat cheese over top.
In a small bowl make dressing: whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic and salt until well combined.
Pour over salad greens,toss together gently and serve

Notes

*a note about the roasted red pepper....

to roast: toss the sliced pepper with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper , place on a small baking sheet and roast at 400F for about 15 minutes.

sometimes I buy the jars of roasted red pepper in brine, and they are great on this salad also (just dry off the brine with a paper towel and slice them up)

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