Green Salad with Red Wine Vinegar Salad Dressing

A restaurant-worthy green salad comes together with a quick and easy red wine vinegar salad dressing!

Course Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword green salad, mixed green salad, red wine vinaigrette, red wine vinegar salad dressing, simple green salad

Prep Time 15

Total Time 15

Servings people

Calories 237kcal

10 ounces mixed baby greens (or other lettuce of choice)
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1 seedless English cucumber, chopped
½ of a red onion, finely diced
¼ cup slivered almonds
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or substitute with other cheese such as crumbled feta or crumbled blue cheese)
Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper or all-purpose seasoning, to taste

¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 ½ teaspoons pressed or finely minced garlic (about 1 large clove or 2 small cloves) (or sub with ¼ teaspoon garlic powder)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Toast the almonds until deep golden brown, then sprinkle with kosher salt while they’re still warm. I do this in the microwave by placing the almonds on a microwave-safe plate. Cook on high power for a total of about 2 minutes, stirring the nuts every 30 seconds. Season with kosher salt and let cool.
Place greens in a large serving bowl. Add tomatoes, celery, cucumber, red onion, almonds and cheese. Season with salt and pepper or with all-purpose seasoning.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together vinegar, honey, garlic, salt, and pepper. While continuing to whisk, gradually stream in the olive oil until all of the ingredients are completely combined. You can also shake everything together in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.
Drizzle the salad with dressing, toss, and serve!

Keep a jar of the toasted, salted almonds in your fridge or pantry for up to a month.

The dressing will keep in the fridge for at least 1 week (probably longer), so I often make a double-batch in advance. Having the nuts and the dressing prepped and ready to go makes last-minute weeknight salads quick and easy.

Serve the salad immediately after dressing so that the lettuce and nuts are crisp and crunchy, not soggy.