We've hosted an annual Christmas Eve dinner for family for the past several years. One of my favorite things about this meal is that I don't have to even think about what to serve anymore. My parents started a tradition of having snow crab legs on Christmas Eve when I was in elementary school, and we've carried that for decades now. They moved 6 hours north of us about ten years ago, so my husband and I took over the hosting duties. While the guest list may change from year to year, we always make room for family. This year we will welcome my in-laws and our brothers.
The other menu items have been established throughout our hosting years. We will have twice-baked potatoes, steamed green beans, biscuits with cheddar and garlic, and my Christmas Eve salad recipe. I adapted this from some recipes I found online for Ensalada de Noche Buena. This is the only time I make this salad so we look forward to it each time!
Ingredients for the salad:
1 head of romaine (we prefer the heart)
1 bunch fresh spinach
1/2 of a small red onion, sliced thin
the arils from 1/2 of a large pomegranate
1 small jicama, peeled and sliced thinly into strips
about 4 mandarin oranges or clementines, peeled and segmented
Ingredients for the dressing:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup (to taste) red wine vinegar
about 1/2 to 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
1/2 to 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
Start by chopping your lettuce and spinach into bite size pieces. I make sure to remove most of the stems from the spinach as they can be awkward to eat. Rinse the greens very well and dry in a salad spinner. If you don't have a spinner, you can drain them on a cotton dish towel or several paper towels.
Lay the greens in the bottom of a large salad bowl. Top with the orange segments, sliced red onion, jicama slices, and the pomegranate arils. The amounts used may vary depending on the size of the produce and personal taste (we like lots of jicama and oranges). Keep chilled until ready to serve.
I like to use a shaker bottle for mixing the dressing as it will separate as it sits. Add the orange juice and red wine vinegar to the bottle, then add the dijon mustard and honey. Add the salt and pepper and then add the olive oil on top. Put the lid on and shake well to emulsify. I try to make this as close to the meal as possible since the olive oil and honey will harden if you refrigerate. If you do make this ahead, remove from the fridge at least 15 minutes before serving and shake very well.
We don't dress the full salad when serving, but rather place the dressing on the table and allow people to use as much as they like.
If you've found this recipe, I hope that you try it out and enjoy with your favorite people. May you have a very Merry Christmas!
