Feta & Tomato Salad with Toasted Nuts

I like to think of this as a winter salad because of the festive colours, or maybe because we’ve nicknamed it Snowball Salad, but really you could serve it any time of year. This tasty Feta & Tomato Salad with Toasted Nuts is a recipe that my auntie Ele made, literally just once, and I fell in love with it. I’m not a salad lover. To be honest, I don’t make it often, but with all those impending resolutions creeping up, that may have to change. Snowball Salad will be making an appearance on our meal rotation.

After tonight, this salad is definitely getting added to our weekly meal planner. Get this, I’m still in a bit of shock. I made this salad tonight to photograph. So, obviously, this meant it was going to be part of dinner. My husband’s commute can be long and both of our boys were getting hungry. The only thing that was going to fix the meltdowns was some sort of snack.

I don’t like the boys snacking before dinner. There have been way too many times, the snacks have turned into dinner and neither kid will eat a decent meal. But I figure if they want to start with their salad, that’s totally fine. I gave each a pretty healthy helping and returned to prepping our actual dinner.

After getting the spaghetti noodles boiling and the frozen sauce on the stove to reheat. I turned around and found both plates empty. Completely gone! I was convinced my youngest, Elan, had tucked it all into the sides of his highchair, but no, it was gone. My oldest, Ben, had maybe three bites left. Elan was still hungry so, he got a bit more and he was totally content.

Finally, when the spaghetti was ready, I gave a bowlful to Elan and he was happy with that, he’s a good eater. My oldest turned his nose up and asked for more salad. WHAT!? I make a really good sauce. The Best Almost Homemade Spaghetti Sauce, to be exact. And Ben opted for more salad, whose child is this? Seriously, this salad is good, but I don’t know many people who would happily pass up carbs for the green stuff and way fewer kids!

Now, usually, we serve this with Italian dressing, but tonight we tried it with ranch. A really good ranch dressing, that was leftover from some take out over the weekend and it was delicious. So, for this, I’m going to suggest you add whatever salad dressing is your favourite. The ingredients will pair well with so many options, so try them all!

How to make Feta & Tomato Salad with Toasted Nuts

When my aunt first made this salad, she didn’t include bacon. But because bacon is bacon, I decided it could only make this better and guess what, it does! I also made this with a spinach and arugula mix, the original calls for romaine. Romaine lettuce, though, seems to always be under some sort of advisory. So this week, since it was on the do-not-buy list, a spinach and arugula mix was the perfect stand-in.

To start this recipe, I always toast the nuts first so they have a few minutes to cool down before getting added to the salad. I bake the pecans and almonds in a preheated 400 degrees F oven for about 6-8 minutes until they are fragrant and lightly toasted.

While that’s toasting, I slice the grape tomatoes and toss that into a large bowl with the spinach and arugula mix. Add in the feta and crumble in the crispy bacon. We generally always have extra bacon on hand. However, if you don’t, just cook five strips of bacon whichever way you prefer.

I like to bake my bacon in the oven at 400 degrees until it’s really crispy. It takes about 30-35 minutes for thick slices. Keep an eye on it though, it goes from perfectly crisp to burnt pretty quick! Once the nuts have cooled a bit, toss those in as well and give the whole salad a good mix.

Take it from my picky three-year-old, who’d prefer to eat this salad over spaghetti and meat sauce, it’s a good one! A pretty salad that’s perfect at any time of year. Pair it with your favourite salad dressing and it’ll start making weekly appearances on your dinner table.

Loved Feta & Tomato Salad with Toasted Nuts? Check out these other delicious side salad recipes, I’m sure they’ll hit the spot:

• Easy Asian Chicken Salad
• Any Season Fruit Salad with Ginger Lime Dressing
• Cauliflower, Broccoli and Bacon Salad

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If you get a chance to make this or any other recipe on the blog and want to share. Please feel free to tag @candyjarchronicles or use #candyjarchronicles on Instagram, so I can see your post. I’d love to see what you’re cooking in your kitchen!

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