Recipe Box, Blueberry, Orange & Almond Spinach Salad

This is a lovely warm weather salad,
full of fresh blueberries and mandarin oranges
It’s light and refreshing and sure to tickle your tastebuds!

Crisp romaine lettuce, baby spinach, mandarin oranges,
cucumber slices, and fresh blueberries
make up the salad
Fresh orange juice, poppy seed dressing
and sliced almonds top the salad

Place the salad ingredients in a bowl and add the fruit and cucumber

The inspiration recipe has a homemade poppy seed dressing
made with orange juice, {recipe here}
but I had a good bottled Poppy Seed dressing in my refrigerator
so I simply squeezed half a fresh orange over the salad
Squeeze the orange over the salad and drizzle it with dressing

Toss to coat the salad with dressing

Then garnish with almond topping

I used packaged honey roasted almonds with dried berries,
but you can also make my favorite Buttery Almonds for the topping~
They are swoonworthy good! {recipe at the end of this post}

We had this salad as a side dish with grilled Lamb Chops
and Magic Parmesan Garlic Butter Potatoes
So good!

If you want to make this a main dish salad,
add cooked or grilled chicken, ham or steak~
I think BBQ chicken or pulled pork would also be incredible!

Blueberry, Orange, & Almond Spinach Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups baby spinach leaves, torn
- 2 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1/2 fresh orange
- 1/2 cup mandarin oranges
- 1/2 cup English cucumber slices*
- poppy seed dressing to taste
- almond topping to taste
- cooked chicken, ham or steak, optional
Instructions
- Combine lettuce and spinach in a salad bowl
- Add mandarin oranges, blueberries and cucumber
- Squeeze orange over salad and drizzle with poppy seed dressing. Toss to combine.
- Garnish with almond topping and serve
Notes

Buttery Almonds
Ingredients
- 2 cups sliced almonds
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- brown sugar
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Saute almond slices in a large skillet in butter and Olive oil over medium heat
- Sprinkle the nuts liberally with brown sugar and Kosher salt.
- The brown sugar will melt and caramelize on the nuts. Stir often and watch carefully so the nuts don’t burn. Don't walk away, this literally only takes 3-4 minutes
- When they have begun to brown turn out onto wax paper or foil to cool. Store in a jar in your pantry or freezer. Makes 2 cups.
Notes
This recipe is similar to Peachy Spinach Salad with Bacon

Keep both of these delicious salads in mind
for Spring and Summer dining!
Enjoy!
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Thanks for the great shortcut, Jenna. The salad looks delicious and a great one for early spring.
Thank you Bernadette, the fresh orange squeezed over the salad is an easy way to get a flavor punch!
Sounds yummy Jenna and perfect for this time of year! Happy Thursday ♥
Thank you Mary, I’m so happy for warmer weather!
Such a yummy and healthy spring salad! Love the almonds for the crunchy.
Thank you Angie, I love nuts in salads 🙂
It begins with a feast for the eyes!
Thank you Dorothy!
I like fresh fruit in a green salad, too. Yum! Yours looks delicious.
Thank you Carole, sorry I called you Jeanie!
This is such a fresh sounding salad for a warm day — and it’s beautiful, too. I may have to make this one for an upcoming potluck lunch. Thanks!
Thank you Jeanie, enjoy!
Jenna, the salad looks so fresh and delicious. The combination of blueberries and mandarin oranges on top is perfect. Happy Thursday!
Thank you Pam, I’m loving this warmer weather 🙂
Yumm that looks fabulous and cool! If our weather ever warms up, I’m making it! 🤣 Thanks for the delicious inspiration, as always, and Happy Weekend!
Thanks so much Barbara, I hope warmer temps find you soon!
Salad, and I will always check it out and this one called me by name.
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Thank you Esme, a nice healthy salad!
Both salads look yummy. I’m going to try your almond recipe too. It has got to be a money saver over packaged ones with the additional benefit of really knowing what is in them.
They taste much better too!
We love salads at our house and almonds are a favorite!
I love fruit and nuts in salad, thanks Mary!
I love how you combined all the different textures in this salad!
Thank you Leslie, I love fruit and nuts in salads 🙂
Jenna, your salad sounds and looks divine! There is just something about poppy seed dressing that says summer. And pairing it with the lamb chops and garlic parmesan potatoes looks delicious. I just happen to have some lamb chops in the freezer waiting for the perfect accompaniments and this is it. Thank you for sharing, as always, your delicious recipes!
Thank you so much Kim, and it was a delicious dinner, I hope you enjoy!
This salad looks so good. I’ll have to make it this weekend.
Thank you Christy!