Friday, December 05, 2008

#1145 - Mandarin Orange Salad

(by Aunt Eileen [Knouse] Carter)

1/2 cup almond slivers
3 TBSP white sugar
1/2 head iceberg lettuce (washed and torn into bite sized pieces)
1/2 bunch Romaine lettuce (washed and torn into bite sized pieces)
1 cup chopped celery
2 green onions (chopped)
1 - 11oz. can Dole mandarin orange slices (drained)
Dressing: 1/2 tsp. salt; 1/4 tsp. pepper; 1/4 cup canola oil; 1 TBSP chopped parsley; 1 TBSP white sugar; 2 TBSP cider vinegar

In a saucepan over low heat add 3 TBSP white sugar and almond slivers--cook and stir until sugar melts and almonds become coated with sugar (watch it carefully--it burns easily)--set aside to cool. In a small bowl add salt, pepper, canola oil, chopped parsley, 1 TBSP white sugar and cider vinegar--stir until mixed and refrigerate it until cold. In a large salad serving bowl add lettuce, celery and chopped green onions--toss. When ready too eat add sugared almonds and drained mandarin oranges on top of salad. Pour dressing over the top--toss to coat.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i was given a link to this recipe by a family member to make for christmas dinner. the person who gave me the recipe didn't even recognize it as theirs when i was done messing with it. i made some modifications to this recipe that make it OUTSTANDING!
first, use one head of romaine and no iceberg. i also may have used a little extra celery and green onion.
i used 3/4 c. almonds with 4 Tbsp sugar to candy them. i doubled the dressing recipe (trust me, you'll want it all), but also made the following modifications. use olive oil instead of vegetable oil. use red wine vinegar instead of cider vinegar.
i think it was my dressing modification that made the biggest difference in this recipe. people had seconds on salad-- no one in my family ever does that!! it was just that good!
without these modifications, though, it's just ok. try it my way and let me know if you agree. :o)