This easy Winter Salad with Homemade Dijon Dressing celebrates the best produce winter has to offer. A bed of mixed greens tossed with purple cabbage and topped with grapes, pears, cranberries, feta, and roasted nuts and finished off with a Maple Dijon dressing.
Pair this Winter Salad with Slow Cooker Pork Roast or Roasted New York Strip for a meal that is worthy of entertaining.
A friend recently said she struggles to use all her fresh produce.
I can not say I can relate. My family loves fresh fruit and vegetables and would prefer a salad any day of the week to steamed vegetables.
However, there are times when the produce is lacking at the store. When I all I can find is root vegetables and hearty cabbages. And while I love these things in dishes like Mexican Coleslaw or Potato Soup, I really long for spring and summer when my stores and farmer markets are bursting at the seems with tender berries and fresh ears of corn.
However, if I dig a little deeper, I can find winter produce that is the perfect making for a fresh salad.
Easy Winter Salad
While I may not have tender berries or vine-ripened tomatoes in the winter, pears, red cabbage, mixed greens, and grapes are always available to me during the colder winter months.
And these humble winter ingredients became the base of a delicious winter salad.
Ingredients in Winter Salad with Fruit
- Shredded cabbage
- Tender Mixed Greens
- Pears
- Apples
- Grapes
- Feta Cheese
- Candied Nuts
- Dijon Dressing
All these ingredients come together to form a winter salad that is fresh, vibrant, and full of flavor and textures.
Dijon Salad Dressing Recipe
With only a handful of pantry staples, there is no reason to purchase salad dressing. A few ingredients come together to create simple magic–a tangy, slightly sweet homemade vinaigrette.
Many dijon vinaigrette are made with honey, and while that is delightful, I find that using maple in this easy vinaigrette is the perfect counter balance to a winter salad. Plus by using maple syrup instead of honey, this becomes a vegan vinaigrette.
Simply whisk maple syrup, Dijon, Balsamic and salt and pepper with olive oil for this easy Maple Dijon Dressing.
A Few Tips for Making a Seasonal Winter Salad
- The key to this salad, like any salad, is to keep the components separate until serving. The greens can be tossed with the grapes, cabbages, dried cranberries, and pears before hand. But wait to dress the salad and top with the cheese and nuts to just before serving, to prevent soggy nuts or wilted lettuce.
- Omit the feta cheese for a vegan winter salad recipe that is also Paleo and Whole 30 approved. The salad will still be delicious, and if you are craving a salty bite, add in roasted nuts that are salted.
- I used toasted walnuts for this salad recipe, but you can omit nuts altogether OR use honey roasted peanuts, toasted almonds or pecans. All choices will work.
- To toast nuts for a salad: heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Add nuts and toss for 2-3 minutes or until your nose smells the nuts. You can also roast nuts in the oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.
- Feel free to use radicchio or green cabbage in place of red cabbage.
- Any variety of mixed greens works in this simple salad recipe–spinach, a mix, etc.
- Anjou or Bosc pears are the easiest to find in the winter months around me, but any firm pear will work in this winter salad recipe.
Recipes to serve with this Winter Salad Recipe
Winter Salad with Dijon Fig Dressing
Ingredients
Winter Salad Recipe
- 9 ounces mixed greens or spinach
- 1/2 small head purple cabbage sliced
- 1 large pear diced
- 1-2 cups red grapes sliced in half
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup feta cheese
- 1/4 cup roasted walnuts see note
Maple Dijon Dressing
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh pepper
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
To Make the Djion Salad Dressing:
- Mix together the vinegar, mustard, maple syrup, oil, salt and pepper. Set aside until serving.
To Make the Winter Salad:
- Toss together the mixed greens, cabbage, cranberries, pears and grapes.
- When ready to serve, add the feta and nuts to the salad and dress with the dressing.
Notes
- To toast nuts for a salad: heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Add nuts and toss for 2-3 minutes or until your nose smells the nuts. You can also roast nuts in the oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.
- Nutritional values are calulated based on full salad dressing used and toasted walnuts for 4 servings.
Kristen Chidsey
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This fig salad dressing will happen very soon!! I even have fig balsamic vinegar in my pantry—it was meant to be. Printing it off now 🙂
Yes, totally meant to be! Thanks Liz 🙂
YUM!!!! I love how colorful this is!!
Wow I love how colorful that is! I love a salad that has some crunch to it 🙂
This has all the crunch you are looking for Liz 🙂
I have not tried fig balsamic but it sounds wonderful. I love figs and I bet it makes a great dressing.
Fig balsamic makes a wonderful dressing. You will love it.
Dynamite! Looks so tasty!
I LOVE fruit in salads, especially with strong cheeses! This looks amazing–pinned!
Thanks Laura it is a great combo.
That dressing sounds wonderful!
What a gorgeous salad!
Thank you so so much!
Thanks Pam.
I love all the flavors and colors in this salad and I’ve got to get my hands on fig balsamic – how wonderful!
Fig Balsamic is insanely delicious.
I just love fruit in my salad and I definitely want to try your fig balsamic. It sounds heavenly. Looking forward to Spring!
Barbara–I can not wait for Spring myself. I have a feeling you will love fig balsamic!
Love all these colors, textures, and flavors. What a beautiful salad!
The more you textures you have in a salad–the better!
This salad looks delicious and bright. I love throwing together random ingredients from the fridge. It is crazy the meals you can make al the while thinking you have nothing in the fridge to eat. I am definitely pinning this!
It is always mind blowing to see what you can do with a bit of creativity!
Dear Kristen, Your salad is marvelous. I love the dressing…this is a perfect dish for a spring gathering. xo, Catherine
Catherine, Very true. This would be great for Easter brunch or a women’s luncheon/shower.
What a fantastic salad! I love fruit in a savory salad with balsamic!
Thanks Lauren.
Such a beautiful salad, but I’ve got to admit that I’m super excited over the dressing! Love figs and this sounds so good! Love it!
The dressing is the BEST part!
That looks lovely! I’m going to try, my family loves fresh vegetables too!
I hope your family really enjoys it Valerie!
So much texture and color in this salad! One of my favorite things about it! Yum!
Textures in all the food we eat is so important!
The colors of that salad are so gorgeous and bright! I love how colorful fresh food is.
Thanks Madaline! Fresh is always the way to go!
You had me with the fig balsamic dressing – what a great way to take this salad up a notch!
What a fantastic combination of flavors!
Thanks Pam!
What a gorgeous salad! Love the mix of flavors and textures and the use of in-season ingredients!
Thanks Martha! It really does combine a bit of this and that to hit every flavor note.
I LOVE your creative nature and how you always find amazing recipes to use what is in your fridge! As always, thanks for the inspiration!
Aww!! Thanks Angela!
This sounds fantastic, I love the crunch and the different flavor components…all together in one beautiful, colorful salad. Lovely!
It is a really great salad. I hope you give it a try!
That dressing sounds really good! I’ve never had anything like that before!
The fig balsamic vinegar puts this amazing salad over the top!
Totally Agree 🙂
Your salad is so bright and colorful and that dijon fig dressing is screaming my name. I love all salads and I’ll be making this one soon. I’m not a fan of steamed veggies, either. I had rather eat them raw or roasted. Beautiful!
Thanks so much Alli. I know you will love this salad!
That fig balsamic has my name all over it! I love vinegar and have so many varieties of balsamic and reds in my pantry! I need to add a fig infused!
You will go crazy over fig balsamic. It is so decadent!