Romaine & Mandarin Salad

This salad is one of those recipes where every time I make it, I wonder why I don't have it more often.  It's great!  It has a light, sweet vinaigrette, mandarin oranges, and candied almonds.  This amount makes enough for about 8 people.  If you're serving fewer than that, you could make the dressing and prepare all the ingredients, then just assemble it when you're ready- probably getting 2 dinner's worth out of this.

It's pretty quick make and uses ingredients that are easy to find year round.  If you're not up for making the candied almonds, something like this would be a great substitution.  They're normally either by the croutons or in the produce section at the grocery store.

Romaine & Mandarin Salad
Printable version here

Dressing
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. white vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
Dash of hot sauce

Candied Almonds
1/4 cup sliced almonds
4 tsp. sugar

Salad
1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
Sliced green onions
1 15-ounce can Mandarin oranges, drained

1. Whisk dressing ingredients until combined.  Set aside.

2. To make candied almonds: Over low heat, cook almonds and sugar until sugar melts and almonds are coated, stirring constantly.  Once sugar is melted and almonds are slightly browned, remove from pan and let cool. (The melted sugar will be very hot- be careful! I speak from experience!)

3. Combine all ingredients just before serving.

Why I love it? It's so fresh tasting and summery, yet it can be made year round!  It has a great combination of sweet and salty, and I love the juicy little oranges!