One of my favorite foods is a nice salad. I loved adding nuts – preferably caramelized in sugar, fruits of the season, and cheese. Oh my goodness. Yumm-o!! I recently tried to caramelize pecans using Swerve Sweetener! I got the idea from Swerve’s website and thought it would an awesome way to lighten the number of calories in my favorite winter salad.

Citrus Salad with Caramelized Pecans & Pomegranates

Making this salad is pretty easy! In addition to the caramelized pecans, I gathered a bunch of citrus fruit I had on hand, added some pomegranate seeds, red onions, and feta cheese. I topped it off with a homemade citrus vinaigrette dressing! Voila – a wonderful salad, perfect for winter.

Here’s how you can make Citrus Salad with Caramelized Pecans & Pomegranates, too!

Ingredients for this Citrus Salad with Caramelized Pecans & Pomegranates

• 1 head bib lettuce
• 1 big handful spinach leaves
• 1 ruby red grapefruit, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 orange, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 cutie, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/2 cup feta cheese
• 1/2 cup sliced pecans
• 1/8 cup Swerve Sweetener

• 1/2 cup good quality olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup water
• juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 1 clove pressed garlic
• 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions 

1. Wash lettuce and spinach and combine with sliced fruit, onions, and feta cheese.
2. Heat pecans in a small cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add Swerve sweetener and stir until the sweetener dissolves and the nuts become caramelized.
3. Remove pecans from pan and let cool on a piece of aluminum foil. Add to salad after cooled – 5-10 minutes.
4. To make the dressing, simply combine all ingredients and shake well to mix thoroughly.
5. Add dressing and enjoy!

I honestly wasn’t sure how the pecans caramelized with Swerve were going to turn out, but I was really very pleasantly impressed. They had just the right amount of sweetness – there was no funky aftertaste, and everyone loved them.

Here’s a printable recipe

I served this salad at my Grandpa’s 90th birthday party last weekend and everyone raved about. If you haven’t heard of Swerve Sweetener before, it’s a zero-calorie, all natural, non-glycemic, non-GMO sweetener. I’ve been using it for the past month and am happy with how everything I’ve used it in has turned out. It measures cup for cup like sugar and has been easy to work with and results in a delicious end product.

If you liked this salad recipe, you might like these salad recipes too:

Pear & Pecan Salad with Parmesan Crisps

Wilted Lettuce Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing

Mediterranean Tomato Salad