This salad is perfect for a quick lunch, a fancy brunch, a lovely side salad or a complete meal with chicken, shrimp or pork tenderloin piled on top. You can add goat cheese, blue cheese or any other fun cheese that strikes your fancy. It’s wonderful with spinach, Romaine, field greens, Bibb lettuce, arugula… did I miss your favorite? Well, it’s great with that too! Feel free to change out the nuts also – don’t have any almonds? Candied Spiced Pecans would be a fabulous switcheroo!
For Valentine’s Day, you could add a sprinkle of crimson pomegranate seeds or how about a scatter of blood orange or ruby red grapefruit wedges? Slivers of mango are beautiful as well as grape halves or sliced crisp apples or pears. Are you starting to get the picture? It’s what I call a Little Black Dress Recipe! Totally adaptable, simple or elegant, dress it up or down depending on the occasion.
The vinaigrette that dresses this delicious salad can be prepared in minutes. I keep a jar in the fridge so we can have a fabulous salad on the spur of the moment with whatever’s in season and/or whatever’s stashed in my fruit/veggie bins!
The recipe below is for my Cranberry-Avocado Salad with Candied Spiced Almonds and Sweet White Balsamic Vinaigrette, but feel free to have fun and adapt according to your tastes, whims, cravings, pantry and budget!
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Cranberry-Avocado Salad with Candied Spiced Almonds and Sweet White Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
This vibrant salad combines creamy avocado, tart cranberries, and crunchy candied spiced almonds, all dressed in a sweet white balsamic vinaigrette.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the dressing:
- 1/2 cup (60g) sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp dried mustard
- 1 tbsp minced sweet onion
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) white balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 cup (70 ml) vegetable oii
- 1/3 cup (70 ml) extra virgin olive oil
Ingredients for the salad:
- 12 oz (340g) baby spinach, arugula, field greens
- 1 small bunch cilantro, washed and dried, leaves removed whole from stems (discard the stems or use for another recipe)
- 2 medium avocados, peeled and halved
- 1 1/2 cup (115g) dried cranberries
- 1 1/2 cup (115g) Candied Spiced Almonds (see recipe)
Ingredients for the almonds:
- 5 cups (600g) sliced almonds, or a 1 lb package
- cup (100g) sugar
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cumin*
- 1-1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika* – some smoked paprikas are quite hot, if you don’t like “hot”, just use 1 tsp and they will be mildly spiced.
- 1 tsp vanilla
- sea salt
- The cumin and the smoked paprika give just a hint of mysterious, delicious flavor – even though these are savory spices, these almonds are still wonderful served with sweets like ice cream or yogurt.
Instructions
For the dressing; combine all ingredients in a pint sized glass jar and shake well to dissolve sugar.
For the salad; place greens and cilantro leaves in a large bowl.
- Add avocado and dried cranberries and about 1/4 cup of the dressing and toss gently.
- Scatter candied almonds over salad and sprinkle lightly with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pass extra dressing at the table.
For the almonds:
- place a large sheet of foil on a work surface. Spray with cooking spray or rub a tsp of oil over foil with a paper towel.
- Place sugar in a large non-stick sauté pan and heat over medium heat, occasionally tipping and swirling the sugar until it’s all melted into a pale golden syrup.
- Lower heat immediately and add butter, cinnamon, smoked paprika and vanilla. Stir until well combined and all butter is incorporated into the sugar syrup.
- Add the nuts and stir gently to coat. Don’t worry if you have some clumps of caramelized sugar – they will melt as you continute to sauté the almonds. Cover and continue to cook on low, stirring every minute or so until almonds are a delicious golden brown. Watch very carefully as they can go from beautiful to burned very quickly! Turn out onto prepared foil and sprinkle liberally with sea salt. Spread out on foil to cool.
Notes
- This salad is highly versatile; feel free to substitute the almonds with pecans or add your favorite cheese like goat or blue cheese.
- It pairs well with proteins like chicken, shrimp, or pork tenderloin.
- Store the vinaigrette in the fridge for up to a week.
- Add seasonal fruits like pomegranate seeds or blood orange wedges for a festive touch.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 320
- Sugar: 15
- Sodium: 250
- Fat: 24
- Carbohydrates: 25
- Fiber: 4
- Protein: 3
- Cholesterol: 0
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the biggest pitfall when making the candied spiced almonds?
The recipe warns that the almonds “can go from beautiful to burned very quickly” once they reach a golden color. Once they look done, turn them out immediately onto the prepared foil, spread them out, and sprinkle with sea salt — they crisp up further as they cool.
Why does the recipe use both cumin and smoked paprika in a sweet nut topping?
The recipe notes that “cumin and smoked paprika give just a hint of mysterious, delicious flavor” even though they are savory spices. The amounts are small enough that the almonds remain sweet and are even good served with ice cream or yogurt.
Can I substitute the almonds with a different nut?
Yes — the article specifically calls out Candied Spiced Pecans as “a fabulous switcheroo” if you do not have almonds on hand. The notes also confirm pecans work well as a substitute.
Can the vinaigrette be made in advance?
Absolutely — the article says the author keeps a jar in the fridge “so we can have a fabulous salad on the spur of the moment.” The notes confirm it can be stored refrigerated for up to a week.
The almonds taste great with both the cumin and paprika! Getting ready to serve this up now. I’ll let you know how it goes later!
How much sugar? Do you use both the paprika and the cumin? I don’t see answers to the questions. I’d like to make this soon. Thanks!
Soooo yummy! Got rave reviews at my monthly cooking group I brought it to. I just used spinach (no cilantro… not a fan of it) So mine was spinach, craisins, avocado, the yummy nuts, and the delicious dressing. I also didn’t have white balsamic so I just used regular. I was just serving it on the side so it was no big deal but I’m guessing if I would have mixed it in it wouldn’t have been as pretty… being that the dressing was brown. I’m guessing that’s why it calls for white. Anyways huge hit. The list of ingredients looks long but really its lots of spices that if you have a fairly stocked pantry you probably have lots of it and so easy to shake together. Big fan over here if you can’t tell :) Thanks for the new fav!
The recipe has stars by paprika and cumin, did you mean to say use one or the other? Because the directions don’t mention using the cumin and there is no key explaining the star.
What a refreshingly new way of serving up Avocado.
Fresh Xmas colours and lots of healthy value.
This looks delicious, and I can’t wait to try it. The cup amount for the sugar is not showing up. How much?
I follow your blog and ALL your recipes are wonderful. This recipe, as you said, is a wonderful fix by choice of ingred. Even bagged salad if really in a hurry. Why do people make things so hard. The dressing couldn’t be any easier, just shake in a jar. Thanks for all the great recipes you post.
Made this yesterday. Very good, but I would suggest only putting the dressing on your own portion. Otherwise, the salad will not keep as leftovers. It was very soggy one day later.
look delicious!
Any recipe with avocados is always delicious. I think I will try this when I have a little more time…perhaps the weekend!
I LOVE this salad! I have made it three or four times this summer. Yes, there are a lot of ingredients, but GO FOR IT! It takes a little extra prep time, but trust me, the results are worth it. The dressing is amazing, and I love the complex flavor of the candied almonds. I make the dressing and the almonds, and then make single entree sized salads, one at a time. This salad tastes like something from a fancy restaurant!
It does seem like a lot of ingredients, as the other comments suggested, but what I would say is use pre-packaged spiced nuts {of your choice: spicy/no-sugar/etc..}, and plan on making the dressing the main ingredient. Then, clean out your refrigerator! That’s my plan, at least.
I guess it may seem complicated, but try to divide the recipe into sections. I would make the dressing and the sugared almonds the night before. The recipe for the almonds makes about 5 cups and has a lot of spices, but the actual salad only uses 1 1/2 cups of almonds. I sometimes purchase the packaged sugared almond salad mix when a recipe calls for sugared and spiced nuts. Other than those two things, it’s just a matter of putting the salad together before serving.
This looks like the best salad to ever grace this world, a world CORRUPT by mankind and the laziness that comes along with it.. Being one of those lazy individuals, I wish that I had been in your circle of friends to try this recipe with oh so many delicious ingredients… How long did it take you to make this?!
I agree, Christie. Lovely as it appears, it runs contrary to my preference to using 5 ingredients or less per meal. Wondering how I can cut this waaay down and still have it turn out delicious and interesting…
……ana xo
Looks like a lovely salad, but the cup amounts aren’t showing up on the website, just are little circles.
there is a circle then the amount and then it has the measurement. I can see it.