Spinach Salad

🎶It’s the most wonderful time of the year! 🎶 The garden has rows of baby spinach, kale, arugula, and lettuce, or maybe you are visiting your Farmers Market this weekend and finding the same fresh spring produce to buy in support of your local farmers. Either way, you have fresh greens calling your name and ready to fill your plate.

These fresh greens make the best way to start filling up your plate. I love the definition of the Pegan Diet, a book by Dr. Mark Hyman - Eat real food, mostly plant based. Simple, right? By starting with a large salad of greens on your plate, then adding a little protein or healthy starch, you are fulfilling this goal for a healthy meal. This is why we should be excited about the most wonderful time of the year - the garden fresh greens are ready!

This simple spinach salad has a medley of flavors that compliment each other so well, the tangy dried cranberries and sweetness of the goat cheese, the crunchy toasted walnuts blending with the bite of the sweet red onion. All topped with a delicious vinaigrette.

No amounts are listed so depending on how many you are serving and how big your bowl is, you can decide! The photo above was a salad for 2 and the amount was just perfect. Fill those plates with greens! 😄 The vinaigrette ingredients will make about 1 cup, more than enough for a salad for 2, but also ideal to have around for the next salad you make, it is delicious!

INGREDIENTS -

Spinach
Apple, sliced thin
Red Onion, sliced thin
Walnut halves, toasted
Dried cranberries
Goat cheese, crumbled

VINAIGRETTE -

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, crushed or minced
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together and set aside. Tear the spinach into bite size pieces and toss a couple tablespoons of the vinaigrette with it. Then arrange your salad toppings on top. You can serve extra vinaigrette on the side, but just this light amount on the spinach seemed balanced considering all the other flavors that are happening in this salad.

Here’s to this salad season, may your plate be filled with greens! I hope to be sharing more salad ideas while everything is so fresh and new! Enjoy!