Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Recipe Advent Calendar - Day 8 - Orange Almond Salad

OK, on to Salads...

When I lived in California, there was a restaurant near us called The Magic Pan.  It was a creperie and I really loved going there for Orange Almond Salad and Coquilles St. Jacques crepes, which have shrimp and scallops in a béchamel sauce.  It was my favorite thing on the menu.  When we moved away, I taught myself how to make both of those items.  I learned how to make crepes and the béchamel sauce in an International Cooking class in college, but the Orange Almond Salad wasn't quite right because I couldn't get the dressing right.  Then I found a cookbook called The Make-A-Mix Cookbook that had a salad dressing mix that was perfect!!  That's where the dressing here came from.

Orange Almond Salad 

1 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 can mandarine oranges, drained
1 pkg. sliced almonds
Sweet Salad Dressing, below

Turn on broiler in the oven.  Put sliced almonds on a cookie sheet. Set cookie sheet a couple of inches below heat in the oven and toast almonds.  Watch carefully because it won't take long.  Shake the pan a couple of times to keep them from burning and sticking.

Put romaine lettuce in a bowl, top with mandarin oranges and almonds, serve with dressing.

Sweet Salad Dressing
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. instant minced onion
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp paprika
(their recipe calls for 1 tsp celery seed, but I don't like it.)

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, mixing until well blended.  Put mixture in foil packet or 1 pint glass jar.  Label.  Store in a cool, dry place.  Use within 6 months.  Makes about 1/2 cup of mix.  (I generally make three or four packets at a time to save time.

To make the dressing, use
1 recipe of the Sweet Salad Dressing
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup vinegar

Combine in a glass jar and shake.  Chill before serving.  Makes about 1 1/4 cups dressing.


No comments:

Post a Comment