Orange Almond Salad

I love this salad and end up making it alot around Christmas because 1. it's pretty cheap. 2. oranges just seem really christmasy to me.

Ingredients:

2 heads red leaf lettuce, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 c. sugared almonds (I'll explain in a minute.)

3 oranges, peeled, sliced, and quartered

Sugared Almonds:

Put almonds along with 1 T. sugar into a frying pan. Heat on medium stirring quite often until the sugar melts and begins to stick to almonds. Once almonds are brown and sugar is mostly melted and sticking to almonds, spread out the almonds on a plate to cool.

Dressing:
1/2 t. orange peel (zest the oranges your using in your salad before you cut them up)
1/3 c. orange juice concentrate (regular OJ works ok too if you absolutely have to)
2 T. vinegar
1/2 c. oil
2 T. sugar
1 T. Italian Dry Dressing Mix (one packet has about 2 T. in it.)
Mix all ingredients together with a whisk. Put into a tupperware to store until ready to serve salad.

Put lettuce into a big bowl. If you are serving within a few hours you can just put everything on top of it the except the dressing, which you'll put on right before serving. If you're making a day or two a head of time, put your almonds and oranges into a plastic bag or tupperware so it doesn't make the lettuce wilt. Add all ingredients and dressing right before serving, mix together and enjoy!