Cranberry Walnut Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Hey there! Stephanie from Sustaining the Powers here again today. I may be crazy for writing this in Colorado, but as soon as Spring starts to roll around I start craving fresh greens and healthy salads. I would probably eat a different salad for lunch every single day if I could. (And by salad I mean a bowl of lettuce that’s totally covered in toppings. Possibly very close to the way I make a taco “salad.”)

Before we moved into our current house, the previous owners had planted some raspberry bushes in a corner of the yard. It was such a treat to have them start producing fruit just a few weeks after we moved into our new home. Each summer I pack up about half the harvest and store it away in our freezer for a cold, snowy winter day. It’s so refreshing to have summer berries to pull out and brighten your lunch. I think that’s why I love salads so much in the springtime.

I try to keep my lunches healthy when I can, so this past week I have been using up some frozen fruits from my freezer and making different vinaigrettes. Vinaigrettes are a great way to add a ton of flavor to your lettuce without a whole bunch of extra calories like you would find in my favorite bacon ranch dressing. This raspberry vinaigrette has become a new favorite and I may have to buy some more frozen raspberries to keep my dressing bottle full.

The rest of this salad has all of my go-to favorites – goat cheese, nuts, and dried cranberries. I’m a huge fan of mixing my veggies and fruits together, so my salad almost always has to have a handful or two of berries in it. Enjoy!

What toppings do you always have to have in your salads?

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Stephanie Powers

Stephanie first learned to cook as a young girl in her grandmother’s kitchen. As an Austin, Texas native, Tex-Mex cuisine, BBQ, and comfort food is in her blood. She loves to travel, and her favorite souvenir is picking up an authentic, local recipe, so her cooking has influences from all over the world. She’s passionate about making cooking accessible to everyone and helping you provide sustenance to your family. (Hence her blog name: Sustaining the Powers) She also loves hosting “framily” meals in her Denver, Colorado home. When she’s not in the kitchen, Stephanie is also a web developer, a geek, a foodie, a Whovian, a book-addict, and (more importantly) a disciple of Christ and a wife to Nick, the most amazing man she knows.

Latest posts by Stephanie Powers (see all)

• Cranberry Walnut Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette - February 26, 2016
• 5 Minute Chocolate Pecan Footballs - February 1, 2016
• Microwave Gingerbread Toffee - December 11, 2015
• Rosemary Sea Salt – Quick Hostess or Neighbor Gift - November 19, 2015