A sunny winter's day salad!

CHICOPEE, Mass. (Mass Appeal) - Just because it's winter, we don't have to stop eating healthy salads. Writer, cook and photographer Nikki Gardner showed us how to make a sunny winter's day salad.

Sunny Winter’s Day Salad
Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

• Honey-Mustard Dressing (see recipe below)
• ½ bunch Tuscan kale or spinach leaves, washed, dried, stems removed and chopped into thin ribbons
• ½ small head frisée, core removed, cut into thin ribbons
• ½ small head radicchio, tough outer leaves and core removed, chopped into thin ribbons
• 1 small fennel bulb, feathery stalks and core removed, chopped into half-moon slivers
• ¼ cup fresh parsley or mint leaves, finely chopped
• ½ cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup cooked quinoa or quinoa penne pasta
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas
• 1 pomegranate (about ½ cup seeds)
• 1 blood orange

Directions:

1. Mix together the honey-mustard dressing and set aside.
2. Toss the prepared kale, frisée, radicchio, fennel, and parsley together in a large salad bowl. Add ½ the dressing and gently rub the dressing into the greens. Next add the walnuts, quinoa or quinoa pasta, and chickpeas.
3. Toss all the ingredients using your hands or a wooden spoon, making sure that all the leaves are evenly coated. If the salad seems dry, add an extra tablespoon of dressing at a time. (For a heartier salad, feel free to add in a little more quinoa or chickpeas to taste.)
4. To remove the seeds from the pomegranate, cut it in half horizontally and smash the fruit onto a plate, cut side down. Most of the seeds will release from the skin. Use a spoon to remove the remaining ones. Add the seeds to the salad and toss again.
5. Cut the top and bottom of the blood orange with a knife. Cut away strops of peel from end to end, removing the peel all the way down to the bright flesh. Slice the oranges into ¼-inch pinwheel rounds. Arrange them on top of the salad. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley leaves and serve.

Honey-Mustard Dressing
Makes about ½ cup of dressing

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in an empty pint-size jar with a lid (or place them all in a bowl and whisk).
2. Cover tightly and shake until the dressing is silky smooth.