I came up with this salad recipe one day when I needed a girly lunch and I needed it to be easy and fast. I ran to the grocery store, picked up items that I knew would be easy to throw together and taste yummy, and I dumped them all in a bowl. Ta-Da! Salad for the girls! The feedback was great so I made it again this week as a ‘sort of’ goodbye (don’t like that word) lunch for our sweet Kelly. Kelly will be working from home while her kids are out of school for the summer. We won’t see as much of her and she won’t be joining us around the table during lunch. This makes me very sad. I love Kelly and what she brings to our office and to my life.
No matter the occasion, I always bring food. Kelly loves a good salad so, again, I ran to the grocery store….
But… before I share this easy recipe with you, I have a cheesy giveaway winner to announce!
Thank you all for your comments, for sharing your favorite cheesy food dishes, and for your cheesy jokes. Ya’ll have seriously made me laugh and made me hungry for cheese these past few days.
The winner of all things cheesy is…
Susan Kramer
Congratulations Susan! Send me a private email with your mailing address so I can get your cheesy prize to you right away!
For those of you who did not win, there will be two more opportunities to win really BIG (but not cheesy) giveaways this month. The first one will be this Wednesday so stop back for a visit 
OK – here’s my recipe for a very tasty and easy salad that can be thrown together the night before (without the dressing) and is perfect for a girly lunch. The salad serves six (full plate of salad size servings) or more if you serve with a crusty whole grain roll.
See below for healthy option substitutions!
Lotta Crunch Girly Salad
Ingredients:
- A 5-ounce bag of baby spinach leaves
- A 12-ounce bag of broccoli slaw
- An 8-ounce container of sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 of a small red onion, cut in quarters and then thinly sliced
- 3 cups chopped cooked chicken (purchase a roasted chicken from the deli and shred)
- 1/2 cup (or more to taste) crumbled gorgonzola cheese
- A 15-ounce can mandarin oranges, drained (reserve 1/2 cup of juice)
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup pecan pie flavored glazed pecans
- 1 cup Cape Cod lite poppy seed dressing
- 3/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
In a large mixing bowl, combine spinach, broccoli, mushrooms, onion, chicken, gorgonzola, oranges, cranberries and pecans. (You may want to hold out some of the cranberries, oranges and pecans and scatter them over the top before serving.)
In a smaller bowl, combine dressing, cranberry sauce, and reserved orange juice with a whisk.
When ready to serve, pour about half of the salad dressing over the salad and gently toss. If you need more dressing, add it in small amounts. (I always have too much dressing but everyone likes to have it leftover for spinach salads later in the week. Just store covered in the refrigerator.)
Healthier substitutions:
Use cranberries that have been sweetened with apple juice instead of sugar (I can only find these at my local natural food store).
Replace the pecan pie glazed pecans with toasted sunflower seeds or toasted slivered almonds.
Leave off the cheese.
Replace the dressing with this vinaigrette:
- 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1-2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
(Honestly, I am so used to omitting most sugars from my diet that I prefer this vinaigrette to the sweeter orange/cranberry dressing.)
Pin ItSweetest Blessings,
LeAnn
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
This salad sounds delicious. And there are so many ways you could play with the ingredients to meet your likes and dislikes. Mmm.
I made the Marble Cheesecake this weekend. I didn’t try the ganache on it; it was already so rich. Unfortunately it didn’t all disappear at the carry in so I had to bring some home with me – darn the luck!
This looks beautiful and refreshing…perfect for summer!
I adore salad and loved how you gave a healthy option too! Yummy!
That salad sounds super yummy! For my taste preference, I would skip the mushrooms (can’t stand the slimy things) but I would love to know where you can purchase pecan pie glazed pecans?
Can’t wait to try this for a MOPS group steering meeting!! YUMMY!
Hi Susan,
The pecan pie glazed pecans are with the snack foods at my grocery store (with the nuts – but not the baking nuts) with the popcorn, chex mix, beef jerkey, etc.
Hope that helps!
LeAnn
This salad looks and sounds delicious, and perfectly timed for summer, and I think your dressing recipe looks great, too. Will definitely try this one!
I wonder if the pecan pie glazed pecans are a regional offering. I have never seen them – of course that doesn’t mean they’re not there. But, I also live in a small town, and frankly, it’s not unusual for ingredients in fancier recipes to not be available where I live. I either make a substitution, or I wait until I’m driving into the big city for a major shopping expedition. In this case, I’d probably substitute plain pecans and hope for the best.