Cashew, Clementine, and Cream Cheese Salad

My older sister, Sheryl, made this salad for a holiday dinner once, and it wowed the whole family. It's quick to make and is nicely different. Like a lot of families, there's quite a bit of planning about who's bringing what when we celebrate a holiday together. Our holidays get complicated because my family is in Ohio, Michigan, and Arizona and Joe's is in Iowa and Minnesota.

Several things are certain, though. There's always more than enough to eat, Mom will always make pies from the fruit in her orchard, and we'll always play games until late in the evening (note: "late in the evening" for my mom is 9pm; "late" is midnight for us).

Ingredients

For the Dressing 
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp tarragon
1 tbsp celery salt
1 garlic clove, minced

For the salad
5 cups mixed salad greens
4 Clementines, peeled and sectioned
1 cup cashew pieces
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
4 oz. cream cheese

Instructions

Put the cream cheese in the freezer so that it becomes firm enough to cut.

Put all the dressing ingredients into a screw-top jar and shake until well mixed. Keep at room temperature until serving.

Arrange the greens on 4 large salad plates, then arrange the clementines, onions, and cashews over the lettuce. Cut the cream cheese into small cubes and sprinkle over the top. Pass the dressing at the table.

Makes 4 side salads.