(Last Updated On: October 22, 2017)

This gorgeous Bejeweled Holiday Salad is great for festive gatherings. Or, any gathering.

You don’t need a holiday to make this jewel. It’s my favorite, favorite salad all year long. Pretty plus tasty. All those colors and textures make it very Instagram worthy. This is why it is a good recipe to pull out when you are entertaining and want to impress.

You’d never guess how easy it is to pull it together.

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I had a salad similar to this one years ago, made by chefs and with some long precious name having to do with the goat cheese and seasonal beets that were in it. But that’s not what made the salad. It was the topping, a bespoke mixture of fruits and nuts. That salad haunted me.

For the longest time I kept trying to recreate that salad. It was always lacking something – some small topping element that made everything work together.

This annoyed me and I would have given up, if not for discovering this one particular snack mix – Cranberry, Nut, Raisin and PomegranateTrail mix from the CVS Gold Emblem Abound Collection.

This mix has the exact right quantities of sweet, salty, chewy and crunchy that takes this salad from just ok to chichi restaurant-style incredible.

What I love about this Bejeweled Holiday Salad:

• It looks super fancy but is actually quite easy to pull together. It’s both a visual feast and a tasty one.
• With some added protein and the quinoa, this salad is filling enough to be called a meal. With the exception of the red and yellow beets (I buy precooked from my market’s salad section) most of the ingredients can readily be found at any local supermarket.
• The nut and berry mixture from CVS Gold Emblem pulls everything together perfectly – like a good handbag or nice pair of shoes.

Here’s what you need:

• 4-5 cups of cleaned baby kale, arugula or your favorite mix of baby greens. Any combo will be a good base, so long as fresh and crisp.
• 1/2 each cubed or chunked red and yellow beets
• 1 cup of precooked  and cooled quinoa
• 2-3 small Persian cucumbers, chopped  (or one hothouse cucumber)
• 2 medium tomatoes chopped
• 1 cup mixed berries (blueberry, strawberry, raspberry
• 2/3 c sliced or shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup Gold Emblem Cranberry, Nut, Raisin and Pomegranate Trail mix
• Crumbled Goat Cheese, to taste.

Here’s what you do:

Start with a bed of fresh salad greens in a broad, flat salad bowl.

1. Place quinoa in a mound at the center.
2. Surround with mounds of cucumber, tomato, berries and beets
3. Sprinkle nut mix and crumbled goat cheese on top.
4. Toss with balsamic vinagrette dressing just before serving, or toss and offer dressing on the side for guests to dress their own salad.

Optional Bejeweled Holiday Salad embellishments:

• Top with herb roasted chicken, roast duck or turkey for an added protein boost!
• Sprinkle fresh edible flowers atop the salad

Save yourself this holiday season:

Have you checked out all the great food items available at CVS lately?

As part of its ongoing commitment to health, CVS Pharmacy offers convenient, wholesome foods for holiday entertaining, as well as festive indulgences. With the expansion of its exclusive Gold Emblem Abound and Gold Emblem lines, healthier snacking is now more convenient than ever, with affordable and delicious options that appeal to a wide variety of preferences.

Gold Emblem Abound is the exclusive snack and grocery line from CVS Pharmacy offering more than 100 wholesome and great-tasting products that are free from artificial flavors, preservatives, and trans fats.

With many products that offer nutritional benefits tailored to your dietary preferences (including options that are gluten-free, organic, high in protein, high in fiber, low in sodium, and more), it’s never been easier and more convenient to find high-quality, flavorful and healthier options.

Gold Emblem is the exclusive line from CVS Pharmacy offering more than 250 great-tasting snacks, beverages and groceries – including nuts, trail mixes, chips, pretzels, dried fruits, cookies, spices, condiments, baking essentials and more.