Give your salad a winter twist with my easy Spanish winter salad recipe. This Spanish-inspired salad uses winter fruits and veggies like orange, pomegranate, and red cabbage for a delicious, healthy, and beautiful salad you'll crave all year long.
If you're looking for more traditional Spanish salads, you'll love these hearty potato salad recipes for malaga salad and ensaladilla rusa.
Introduction
I love salad, and could eat one every day. I especially love creating salads around seasonal produce with the challenge of combining flavors and choosing the right dressing to match.
When Devour Tours released a cookbook of winter-themed Spanish recipes, I knew I'd have to include a winter salad recipe. Spain's winter bounty includes all sorts of greens, lettuces, persimmon, pomegranate, quince, cabbage, walnuts, citrus fruits...we are spoiled for choices!
This winter salad is loosely based around the Madrid tradition of having lombarda con piñones (red cabbage and pine nuts) for the holidays. I knew I wanted to incorporate red cabbage, oranges, and pomegranate and I went from there. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Want to enjoy the best of Spain's winter produce? All you need are a few fruits and veggies, and you'll be ready to recreate this epic salad! Let me tell you about the key ingredients you'll need.
- Lettuce: Spain is well known throughout Europe for their amazing winter lettuce, so I recommend choosing a nice head of romaine or little gem lettuce.
- Cabbage: Shredded red cabbage brings a wonderful crunch and color to the salad.
- Pomegranate: I love the sweet, juicy flavor and crunch that pomegranate seeds bring to a salad. This is one of Spain's winter fruits, and is a great addition to any salad.
- Cheese: Any cured sheep's milk cheese will work well in this recipe; I suggest either Manchego or Parmesan.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions
The beauty of this salad is that everything is flexible. If you don't have or like an ingredient, just substitute something similar. Some ideas:
- Instead of lettuce use kale
- Instead of red cabbage use radicchio
- Instead of carrot use radish
- Instead of orange use blood orange or grapefruit
- Instead of walnuts use pecans
How to Make Spanish Winter Salad
If you’d like to see the full ingredients and instructions, scroll to the bottom of the post for the printable recipe card.
- Thinly slice or shred the cabbage. (image 1)
- Cut the lettuce into strips. (image 2)
- Thinly shave the carrot with a vegetable peeler. (image 3)
- Peel the pomegranate and carefully remove the seeds. (image 4)
- Cut the orange slices into smaller, bite-sized pieces. (image 5)
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. I sometimes leave the cheese and orange slices for last, so that I can arrange them nicely on top. (image 6)
- To make the vinaigrette, whisk all of the ingredients together and then reserve until you're ready to serve the salad. (image 7)
- Dress the salad right before serving, and enjoy! (image 8)
Recipe FAQs
Spain is delicious all year round. Winter fruits in Spain include oranges, mandarins, pomegranates, custard apples, persimmons, kiwi, strawberries, and apples. Winter vegetables in Spain include leafy greens, artichokes, cabbage, and peas. Many vegetables are grown year-round in Spain as well, such as broccoli, radishes, zucchini, and beets.
The difference lies in the type of fruits, vegetables, and nuts that are available in the different seasons. In Spain, we can enjoy many wonderful fruits and veggies in the winter, like pomegranates, oranges, apples, cabbage, and greens--all of which make a great salad.
Yes--in fact, Spain is the world's biggest exporter of lettuce! Many varieties of lettuce are grown in different regions of Spain in the winter because of the country's excellent climate. Spain's lettuce is exported all over Europe and is in high demand.
Serve
This Spanish winter salad can accompany just about any meal! It can be the main course if you add a piece of grilled chicken or salmon on top. It can be a healthy part of a tapas spread or a side dish for a Spanish stew. It also works really well for a Spanish inspired Thanksgiving spread, too!
Expert Tips
- You can prepare the salad in advance (the day before) but I would leave the orange and cheese for right before serving. Otherwise, the cheese could get dry or absorb other flavors, and the orange will release juice, making the salad watery.
- Always save the dressing until serving time. No one wants limp lettuce!
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Spanish Winter Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad
- ¼ head red cabbage thinly sliced or shredded
- 1 large carrot shredded
- 4 cups romaine or little gem lettuce washed and cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 orange or blood orange
- ½ pomegranate seeds only
- ¼ cup walnuts
- ¼ cup Manchego or Parmesan shaved or thinly sliced
For the Dressing
- ½ orange juice only
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large pinch salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
Making the Salad
- Thinly slice the cabbage and shred the carrot.
- Cut the lettuce into bite-size pieces.
- Cut the pomegranate in half and remove the seeds from one side.
- Cut the orange slices into small pieces.
- Combine all of the above ingredients along with the walnuts in a large salad bowl. Top with the cheese, if using, and dress right before serving.
Making the Vinaigrette
- Whisk together the orange juice, vinegar, honey, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. Refrigerate until ready to serve, and shake or stir well before using.
Notes
- You can prepare the salad in advance (the day before) but leave the orange and cheese for right before serving. Otherwise, the cheese could get dry or absorb other flavors, and the orange will release juice making the salad watery.
- Always save the dressing until serving time. No one wants limp lettuce!
Nutrition
Photography by Giulia Verdinelli
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