The Colorful Cranberry

We love cranberries in this house whether we drink them or eat them, they are definitely always in the pantry, the fridge or on the shelf.  The most healthy way is eating them fresh I'm sure, but they are kind of tart.  Processing  them makes them lose nutrients, but they are still good for you.  I tried to find unsweetened dried cranberries, it's tough.  I don't know why food companies throw sugar on them, mixed with other things in a food dish makes them just as good without the sugar.

This house consumes alot of cranberry juice, dried cranberries, homemade cranberry sauce, homemade cranberry jam and canned cranberry sauce, my youngest eats the canned like it's her job!  I remember when she was studying in London, her and her friends were planning their Thanksgiving meal and could not find cranberry sauce (native to the US is my guess). She asked if I could send some over.  I went to Costco and bought a case of 6 cans.  It was a very expensive shipment let me tell you, $90 dollars later and about a week of waiting for it to get there!  She was a happy girl when it finally arrived and wanted to keep it all to herself.  I told her to be nice, she needed to share it.  That is how much she likes that stuff in a can, CRAZY!

Yesterday I stepped out of the cranberry box and made a salad dressing out of some dried cranberries, that was new to me, never have done it.  I usually sprinkle them on top of the salad and eat them that way.  So I made a salad of mixed Spring greens with carrots, cucumber, some of the mixed berry medley that I used in the rustic fruit and nut bread (I figured I may as well use them up) and candied pecans. Then I made my dressing.

 This was all it took to make a fabulous, kind of sweet and sour cranberry dressing for my salad. It's a great dressing for a Fall, Thanksgiving or Christmas meal.

This dressing is better if tossed with the salad because it's on the thick side.

Six ingredients is all it takes to make the dressing. Recipe below.

I used these as extra toppings on the salad, both from Trader Joe's.

Cranberry Salad Dressing

Ingredients
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons apple cider or wine vinegar
3 tablespoons dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions
Process all ingredients in a food processor until cranberries are finely chopped.  Pour into the bottom of your salad bowl.  Layer salad ingredients in the bowl on top of the dressing and toss to coat.