• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
She's Not Cookin'
  • Recipes
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • About Me
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Salad

    The Salad - My personal all-time favourite!

    Jul 3, 2020 · Modified: Feb 24, 2023 by Sandra Flegg

    • Facebook
    the salad on green plate with fork this recipe!

    About 'the salad'

    Warning - this is a long-winded post about my love for a salad. Remember, you can always click on the "Jump to Recipe" button at the top below the title 🙂

    I've had these photos and draft post sitting here for awhile now. I would say about a month and half.

    I made 'the salad' very soon after I launched my blog.

    It's nothing over-the-top or out of the ordinary. Not a new trend or crazy vegetable that I read about on Instagram. It's just 'the salad'.

    But it's NOT!! It's my new FAVOURITE salad. I'm pretty sure I said to hubby Timthe first time I made it, that it was 'my favourite salad ever'!!

    The day that I made this salad for myself was the same day I cooked and photographed Spinach & Strawberry Salad with Honey Mustard Chicken.

    Hubby Tim volunteered to eat the one I had photographed. I had a taste and it is delicious but I just fancied something different after working on it for the better part of the morning.

    A Salad Is Born!

    I had been thinking of creating a chopped salad recipe, then I got bogged down in the gazillion variations you could create and it just sat on the back burner and simmered 🙂

    I had originally thought I would either make a lemony-basil dressing with a chopped salad but then decided to make a balsamic type dressing, thinking it might be a good recipe once fall comes around. (yep, once you work at Michaels you're alway a season or two ahead).

    I laid everything out on the plate and kept piling on the ingredients. I made the Balsamic dressing and dipped my finger in - it was bang on. Really good.

    THEN, I remembered seeing recipes over the years where Balsamic and poppyseed dressings were mixed together.

    the salad on pgreen plate with fork and dried cranberries, pumpkins seeds scattered around the plate.

    So, I mixed the poppyseed dressing from the Spinach & Strawberry Salad with a one-to-one ratio with the new Balsamic Dressing that I had just made and it seemed to taste pretty darned good with the finger test. Turns out it's my new favourite and it's SO easy to make!!

    I have learned the hard way - always take pictures

    I have made upwards of 15 recipes that were being tested without photos and turned out to be perfect. AAARGH. So, I learned my lesson and snapped a few quick pictures of 'the salad' on the plate before I ate it. I wish I had taken process photos, and may insert them at some point but do you really need to see all the veggies chopped and looking pretty on a plate right now to execute this recipe? nope.

    I also learned the hard way that I need to write everything down so that I can duplicate it for the final recipe. I jotted down quick notes with ingredients and then I devoured 'the salad'. Or, I should say I savoured EVERY SINGLE BITE. It is by far my favourite salad ever.

    The textures of the crunchy peppers, chewy dried cranberries, salty feta cheese. I recommend toasting the pecans at 350F for five to seven minutes but they are delicious right out of the package as well.

    The ingredients

    Basic ingredients - romaine lettuce is at the heart of the salad but you could easily substitute mesclun, leafy, iceberg - you get it 🙂

    Change up the ingredients and add whatever your heart desires. Blueberries, sliced strawberries........

    Pine nuts, hazelnuts, cashew nuts (anyone get the Best In Show movie reference)? One of the funniest movies ever!

    Make the dressings separate, THEN mix them together. One-to-one. So, 1 cup of poppyseed with 1 cup of balsamic or whatever portion you need.

    Thank you for reading and allowing me to share my love of 'the salad' with you. When you make this recipe, please let me know in the comments below and post a picture and tag me on Instagram!

    Print
    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

    The Salad


    ★★★★★

    5 from 1 reviews

    • Author: Sandra Flegg
    • Total Time: 15 minutes
    • Yield: 12 cups
    Print Recipe
    Save Recipe Recipe Saved

    Description

    My favourite salad of all time. Tangy dressing, crunchy veggies and nuts and oh so many good things going for it. It's calling your name.


    Ingredients

    Salad

    8 cups romaine lettuce, torn or chopped

    1 yellow pepper, chopped into ¼" pieces

    ½ orange peppers, chopped into ¼" pieces

    ½ red onion, sliced

    1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

    1 cup chopped toasted pecans

    ½ cup craisins

    ¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds

    Balsamic Dressing

    ¼ cup balsamic vinegar

    ½ cup olive oil

    2 tbsp. maple syrup

    1 tsp. honey dijon mustard (substitute regular dijon)

    Pinch salt & pepper

    Poppyseed Dressing

    ¼ cup white wine vinegar

    3 tbsp. honey

    1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. poppyseeds

    ½ tsp. salt

    ½ tsp. dry mustard

    ⅓ cup mayonnaise

    ½ tsp. lemon zest

    1 tbsp. finely grated sweet onion

    1 tsp. dijon mustard

    1 tbsp. lemon juice

    ½ cup olive oil


    Instructions

    Place all salad ingredients into a large bowl and toss well to mix. 

    Balsamic Dressing

    Combine all ingredients into a glass jar and shake to mix. 

    Poppyseed Dressing

    In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk all ingredients together. Store in glass jar in refrigerator. 

    Combine one 1 cup of balsamic dressing with 1 cup of poppyseed dressing. Whisk until combined. 

    Drizzle over salad. Serve with additional side dish of dressing to top up the salad as desired. 

    Combine poppyseed and balsamic together and mix 1:1 ratio.

    This is enough dressing for several salads. 

     

     

     

    Notes

    The nutritional information is calculated using ½ cup of balsamic and ½ cup of poppyseed dressing for the entire salad. This is due to the fact that the dressing recipe will make more than the amount needed. 

    • Prep Time: 15 minutes
    • Category: Salads
    • Method: No Bake
    • Cuisine: American

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size:
    • Calories: 253
    • Sugar: 16.2 g
    • Sodium: 443.1 mg
    • Fat: 15.7 g
    • Saturated Fat: 5.6 g
    • Trans Fat: 0 g
    • Carbohydrates: 23.7 g
    • Fiber: 3 g
    • Protein: 7.2 g
    • Cholesterol: 25.6 mg

    Keywords: Salad

    If you've made this recipe, please come back and leave us a star rating and comment below. Or, tag us on social media @shesnotcookin or #shesnotcookin for a chance to be featured!

    « Pecan Butter Tart Squares
    Quinoa Spinach Salad with Avocado »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Did you make this recipe? Let me know! Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

    1. Marcia Bragg Bogan

      August 15, 2021 at 9:57 pm

      First time seeing your blog. Love the ingredients for your salad recipes. I want to try all of them. I'll post comments after I try each one. Thanks for posting. We love a good salad.
      Marcia Bogan.

      Reply
      • Sandra

        August 16, 2021 at 9:08 am

        Thanks for stopping by Marcia! I love a good salad too! 🙂 Sandra

        Reply
    2. Tim

      January 22, 2023 at 2:10 pm

      So fresh and full of great ingredients what's not to like anytime about "The Salad"!! Thanks!!

      ★★★★★

      Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I'm Sandra! Welcome to my kitchen. A self-taught cook, I love being in the kitchen. My inspiration is the people who I love the most - my family. Here you will find simple family recipes to enjoy year round.  More about me

    Easy Weeknight Dinners

    • Pasta and peas in a blue bowl with a fork.
      Pasta e Piselli (Italian Pasta and Peas Recipe)
    • Tagliatelle ai funghi on a white plate with freshly grated Parmesan and fresh parsley.
      Tagliatelle ai Funghi (Tagliatelle with Mushrooms) Recipe
    • Baked Ziti with Meatballs
    • Gigi Hadid Pasta Recipe (with and without vodka)
    • Walking taco casserole in a blue casserole dish.
      Taco Casserole with Fritos
    • Creamy Boursin cheese pasta with cherry tomatoes in white bowl with wooden spoon.
      Easy Boursin TikTok Pasta Recipe
    • Overhead view of baked tortellini alfredo in casserole dish.
      Baked Tortellini Alfredo
    • Photo collage of different stuffed pastas with text overlay.
      Types Of Stuffed Pasta
    • Photo collage of four pasta dishes with text overlay.
      Best Cheese For Pasta
    • Photo collage with four subsitutes for mozzarella cheese.
      Best Mozzarella Cheese options to use as substitutes!
    Photo collage of holiday recipes.

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy

    Follow

    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Instagram

    Contact

    • Contact

    COPYRIGHT © 2023 SHE'S NOT COOKIN'