19 Easy Winter Salad Recipes in 20 Minutes or Less

December 23, 2020

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Eat all of your veggies with these easy winter salad recipes. These bright and colorful salads are a delicious mix of vegetables, fruits, nuts and more. You can pair these salads with a pot of soup, a casserole or enjoy them on their own. Recipes like Fig & Goat Cheese Salad and Balsamic Berry Vinaigrette Winter Salad are comforting, flavorful and ready in 20 minutes or less.

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Warm Pear & Spinach Salad with Maple-Bacon Vinaigrette

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Mature, larger-leaved spinach holds up better to the warm bacon vinaigrette than baby spinach in this healthy spinach salad recipe. If you don't want the spinach to wilt, let the dressing cool before tossing it with the salad.

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Balsamic Berry Vinaigrette Winter Salad

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This festive salad features colorful greens, fruit and cheese tossed with a light and zesty dressing.

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White Bean & Veggie Salad

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This meatless main-dish salad combines creamy, satisfying white beans and avocado. Try mixing it up with different seasonal vegetables.

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Massaged Kale Salad with Grapes & Cheddar

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The kids participating in the California Farm to School Network who inspired this salad knew that they could make kale more tender and appealing to fellow students by massaging it first to break down tough cells in the plant. You probably won't find crumbled Cheddar at your market, but all you have to do is buy the cheese as a brick and then slice before breaking it into little chunks.

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Fig & Goat Cheese Salad

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The sweet-and-savory combination of the figs and earthy goat cheese will surely satisfy the palate. If you can't find dried figs, try swapping in dried apricots.

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Beet & Shrimp Winter Salad

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This healthy dinner salad recipe gets its staying power from protein-packed shrimp and fiber-rich barley. With a simple red-wine vinaigrette, this quick salad makes just one serving but is easy to double or triple. Look for precooked beets with other prepared vegetables in the produce department.

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Winter Salad with Toasted Walnuts

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This salad was one of the favorites chosen from over 1,000 salad recipes for our 30th anniversary issue. In 2004, Deborah Madison waxed poetic about winter ingredients, particularly nuts. “In the chill air of winter, nuts move up to center stage as do their warming, substantial, golden oils--so good with winter salad greens and vegetables, such as shaved fennel, all of which are likely to end up in a salad together,” she says. Madison suggested using a mix of lettuces that balance each other here--a mild, tender variety, such as Boston, with a more intense and sturdy green, such as escarole, for instance.

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Quinoa Chickpea Salad with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Dressing

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This hearty vegan salad is loaded with plant-based power ingredients: chickpeas, quinoa and hummus. We love the crunch of the sunflower seeds and the unexpected flavor of roasted peppers.

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Apple, Fig & Brussels Sprouts Salad

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Salad dressing made from sweet and mellow white balsamic vinegar balances out the assertive greens and Brussels sprouts in this healthy winter salad. If you have one handy, a small mandoline makes it easy to slice the Brussels and apple. To make it a dinner salad, top with shrimp or chicken.

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Broccoli, Chickpea & Pomegranate Salad

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Simple steps give this broccoli salad recipe a more nuanced flavor: soaking the onion tempers its bite and toasting the cumin enhances its aroma. Serve alongside grilled chicken, pork or fish.

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Spinach Salad with Ginger-Soy Dressing

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This spinach salad tossed with spunky ginger dressing was inspired by the iceberg salads served at Japanese steakhouses across the U.S. Add shrimp for lunch or a light supper.

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Mixed Greens with Lentils & Sliced Apple

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This salad with lentils, feta and apple is a satisfying vegetarian entree to whip together for lunch. To save time, swap in drained canned lentils--just make sure to look for low-sodium and give them a rinse before adding them to the salad.

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Green Salad with Strawberries & Goat Cheese

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This lively salad captures the essence of early summer with ripe strawberries, chives and baby spinach. To make it a meal, top it with grilled chicken breast.

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Broccoli, Edamame & Cabbage Millet Salad

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Trying to eat more whole grains? Try millet--a gluten-free ancient grain with a slight corn flavor. In this grain-salad recipe, the millet is tossed with a white-wine vinaigrette, green veggies and apricots. Serve with grilled chicken, fish or tofu.

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Bold Winter Greens Salad

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For this cousin of the Caesar salad use a combination of winter greens, such as radicchio and escarole; the anchovies and lemon juice temper their bitterness. Vary the amount of garlic and anchovy according to your preference.

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Citrus Salad with Chia-Celery Seed Dressing

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Chia and celery seeds are a nice alternative for this winter salad if you're typically a poppy-seed-dressing fan. Plus, the chia even brings a bit of its famous thickening power to help emulsify the dressing.

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Blue Cheese & Spinach Salad

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This blue cheese, corn and spinach salad recipe is delicious tossed with a warm bacon-spiked tomato vinaigrette. We love a full-flavored blue cheese like Maytag, but a milder blue cheese is also nice. This spinach salad is great with pizza or as a light side salad.

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Spinach Salad with Warm Maple Dressing

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Pure maple syrup, as opposed to artificially flavored and colored “pancake” syrup, is an extraordinary cooking ingredient. Here it adds body as well as rich flavor to the dressing, providing a perfect counterpoint to the smoked cheese.

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Warm Beet & Spinach Salad

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This warm spinach-and-beet salad is inspired by a dish from Penny Cluse Café in Burlington, Vermont. If you have cooked beets on hand, you can have it ready in just a few minutes.

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