A winter salad, think cranberry and orange!

Sometimes the inspiration for a salad lies in the ingredients for the dressing. In this case is it flavored olive oil and balsamic vinegar from Midtown Olive Press. I love this store because you can sample the olive oils and vinegars. I also like the fact that you can refill your empty, clean Midtown bottles in effect recycling them.

I was out of my favorite white balsamic vinegar (Honey Ginger) and went to the Midtown Olive Press location in Greensboro at Friendly Center. I tried the Cranberry Pear White Balsamic Vinegar and WOW, what a wonderful flavor. It pairs well with the Blood Orange Olive Oil which I also used when making the focaccia a few weeks ago.

The beautiful thing about this olive oil and vinegar is that you don't even have to 'make' a vinaigrette. Just sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the salad, Splash the oil and vinegar on the salad and you are done! No need for mustard or anything else.

Now what do I put in this salad? Beautiful mixed greens from the Greensboro Farmer's market, carrots, dried cranberries, sections from a clementine (they don't have seeds), and chopped walnuts.

Put the olive oil and vinegar in a bowl.

Add the slices of carrots and let them enjoy the flavors for a few minutes.

Peel the clementines, I used 4 for a salad for 3 people, add the chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, carrots and dressing to the greens in a large bowl and toss. I like to put this together immediately before taking it to the table so that the greens don't wilt.

The sweetness of the oranges, tart flavor of the cranberries and crunch of the walnuts and carrots made a delicious combination. The Blood Orange Olive Oil / Cranberry Pear White Balsamic Vinegar combination was a perfect pairing for this salad. 

Not even one morsel was left!

Yummy!