Kneader’s Cranberry Sunflower Salad recipe copycat! With turkey or chicken, sunflower seeds, raspberry poppyseed dressing, and mozzarella cheese!
Hey hey! It’s baaaaack! Salad Monday has returned in all of it’s glory and I couldn’t be more happy about that. Also? I’m back. Last week I had my Oral Defense for my undergrad thesis, nailed it, it’s done. Official graduation day was Friday and now I am a free woman. Free to cook and bug you with tasty recipes til you go crazy. But maybe let’s stop just short of the crazy part.
I don’t think it’s really even sunk in yet, the fact that I’m done with school. (At least until a master’s degree some years from now…) Right now it kind of feels like the break in between semesters. That two week limbo where you get to breathe for a second but still can’t totally let yourself relax because you have to gear up for another three plus months of papers and assignments and projects and discussions. That’s kind of where my mind is at and I think it will take a few weeks, maybe even a month, before I really feel like it’s actually over. I’m done.
Hallelujah!
So to celebrate my return from school work overload and a thesis of crazy-large proportions, I’ve brought back your favorite Salad Monday. Up this week: a Kneader’s restaurant copycat. I don’t get to eat at Kneader’s nearly enough but every time I do, I always fall in love with whatever I order. I’m a soup-salad-sandwich shop kind of gal so Kneader’s is right up my alley.
This copycat is the perfect way to shake up your salad routine. I’ve done the classic spinach + nut + berry combo a million times and honestly, it never gets old. But sometimes you just need a little something new on the table. The tart cranberries and salty sunflower seeds are my favorite part! And the dressing!
You can make homemade raspberry poppyseed dressing if you’ve got the time but I usually keep both raspberry vinaigrette and creamy poppyseed dressing on hand anyway so mixing them together makes a quick and super yummy dressing for this salad.
If you’re a Kneader’s fan, or just a salad fan, you’re going to fall in love with this salad!
Kneader’s Cranberry Sunflower Salad
Ingredients
- 8 cups mixed spring greens
- 2 cups diced or sliced cooked chicken - or turkey breast, diced or sliced
- ½ red onion - thinly sliced
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese or mozzarella balls - diced
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup sunflower seeds - (shelled)
- ½ cup creamy poppyseed dressing
- ½ cup raspberry vinaigrette
Instructions
- Whisk together poppyseed dressing and raspberry vinaigrette. Store chilled until ready to use.
- In a large bowl toss together all remaining salad ingredients. Serve with chilled prepared dressing.
Congrats with school being done! I’m between semesters now and just waiting for Fall Semester to start. This salad with that dressing looks pretty awesome and I’ve never been to Kneader’s before.
Congratulations on your accomplishment!! This salad is gorgeous! It has so much texture and flavor. And I love the colors!
Congratulations on your graduation! This salad looks delicious. I have never thought of mixing the two dressings together – what a great idea. I can’t wait to try it.
I graduate next Sunday and my friends and I were talking about yesterday how weird it will be to not have a next time we have to go back to school. So bizarre! This salad looks so yummy, loving that dressing!
This salad looks delicious! Are the dressings store bought and mixed together or is there a separate recipe for them?
Thanks (:
Hi Cherise, I actually bought the two dressings at the store and then mixed them – it’s so quick and sooo yummy! But you can also make my homemade poppyseed dressing (you can find it in this post over here) and blend it together with about a cup of raspberries!