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Are you guys tired of salads yet? I hope not because I’m on a roll and not planning on stopping any time soon. It seriously feels good to eat a little healthier and fresher, despite the cold weather outside that sometimes calls for chocolate lava cake. Yes, it really happened on Friday night. I was desperate after my healthy cod fish dinner. So desperate that I made it from scratch at nine o’clock at night and it was worth every extra calorie. I liked it, it tasted good, and that’s the end of story.
So today, I’m back to crunchy, crispy salad greens and healthy veggies, with some fresh mandarin oranges thrown into the mix. I go through phases where I crave citrus, either oranges or mandarins. Costco has been carrying Halos California mandarins that I’ve been popping like there’s no tomorrow. In my opinion they are the tastiest, sweetest, and easiest to peel mandarins. So I made a salad with them!
Mandarin Peanut-Crunch Salad is all about Asian infused flavors of chopped romaine, red cabbage, carrots, cucumber, scallions, peanuts and plenty of mandarins. Tossed in a slightly sweet orange marmalade with a hint of spicy dressing. If you can’t get your hands on fresh mandarins, use canned. Just drain them really well.
This salad is all about crunch! It comes together super easy and serves as a tasty light lunch. You can also turn this into a delicious main-dish salad by adding shredded cooked chicken.
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Mandarin Peanut-Crunch Salad
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Chop
- Cuisine: Asian
Description
Crunchy salad with carrots, cucumbers, peanuts, and mandarin slices. Tossed in flavorful orange dressing.
Ingredients
- 6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
- 1 cup sliced cucumbers
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 1/4 cup honey roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
- 3 mandarin oranges, peeled, separated into slices and halved crosswise (if you have time and patience you can peel the mandarin slices)
Dressing
- 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. sunflower oil
- 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. orange marmalade
- 1 tsp. chili-garlic sauce
- 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the salad ingredients. Toss with dressing; season with salt and pepper as needed and serve immediately.
Dressing
- Whisk the rice vinegar, sunflower oil, brown sugar, orange marmalade, chili-garlic sauce, and fresh lemon juice in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or cover and store in refrigerator.
Notes
peanuts can be substituted with almonds
Keywords: chinese, side, easy
adapted with changes from Costco cookbook
Rimma says
Orange marmalade ingredient in the dressing, can it be substituted with orange jam?
Katya says
Yes! Orange jam will definitely work.
Yasmeen | Wandering Spice says
Ah, perfect crunchy textures and citrusy flavors for summer! Things are really heating up down here in Melbourne – I can see this fitting into our routine quite nicely 🙂
Katya says
Yasmeen: I’m so jealous of your warm weather and hope you enjoy this citrusy salad! We’re living in negatives 8’s around here and only dreaming of warmer days!
Valya of valyastasteofhome.com says
I love salads. I’ve been eating salads for lunch every day lately. I don’t like nuts in my salad except sunflower seeds. You salad looks great!
Katya says
Me too!!! I love, love salads!!! You can omit the nuts and it will still taste good 🙂
Beth says
Katya, this salad is totally GORGEOUS! I’m putting it on our menu plan!
Katya says
Thanks Beth! Hope you like it!
Joanne says
Eating healthier does feel good doesn’t it? But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t also eat some chocolate lava cakes every once in a while either, haha!
Love the bright flavors in this salad. The citrus infusion is so delicious.
Katya says
Yes to lava cakes and salad greens 🙂 Thanks Joanne.