Skip to main content

I LOVE...

Everyone needs a go to salad. One that's fancy enough to serve at a dinner party but one that your kids will still eat too. No matter how many times I make this salad, I never get sick of it. I love it's versatility. There are a million ways to get creative with it and still have it taste equally as delicious. For me, it's the balsamic dressing that makes it though. Yes, it's homemade but so so easy. It even tastes good drizzled on chicken breasts.

~ Balsamic Spinach Salad ~

Ingredients for Salad:
2 packages of fresh Spinach leaves
3/4 cup pre-chopped nut of your choice - Toasted Pecans, Walnuts, Almonds or Pine nuts are best.
3/4 cup dried Cranberries - Craisins work great and if you don't like Craisins, you could omit for Dates or Raisins.
1/2 cup crumbled cheese of your choice - Goat, Feta, Gorgonzola or Blue. I prefer Feta.
Optional: Apples, Grapes, Rasberries, Pears, Celery, Cucumber, Red Onions, Croutons.

Ingredients for Dressing:
2/3 cup Olive Oil
6 TBS. Sugar
4 TBS. Balsamic or Red Wine Vinegar - I love Balsamic Vinegar so much that in all my times of making this, I've never used Red Wine Vinegar.
2 TBS. Sour Cream - Low fat or fat free taste equally as good.
1 tsp. Dijon or Honey Mustard

Directions:

In a bowl, combine all Salad ingredients. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the Dressing ingredients; shake well. Drizzle over salad and toss. Serve immediately.

Caution - Once the dressing is on the salad, it does not save well. I advice if you are only having the salad alone, to put the desired spinach amount in a bowl and drizzle the dressing over that one serving. Then save the salad and dressing for another day. The dressing stays good for a few days in the refrigerator. It will get hard but all you have to do is shake it and let it sit at room temp. for a few minutes.

If I were to make this salad tonight, I would make it as follows: Spinach, no nuts, Dates, crumbled Feta cheese, Celery, Pears, and Herb Garlic Croutons with Balsamic Dressing. Yummmm!

Enjoy!!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tame the Tum: Spare tire or stress bulge?

For many women, getting bikini ready means tackling one dreaded area in particular — our tummies. Most of us still think the best way to achieve a washboard stomach is by doing hundreds of sit-ups. Not so, says A-list trainer and body guru James Duigan. James, who sculpts supermodels Elle Macpherson and Rosie Huntingdon-Whiteley among others, insists there is no ‘one size fits all’ method for getting a flat belly. Instead, he’s identified five key ‘tummy types,’ all of which require a different approach to achieve successful toning. Once you figure out your tummy type (mine is the STRESS BELLY) thanks to the UK Daily Mail , you'll be on your way to getting the perfect midriff... THE SPARE TIRE TUMMY The spare tire: This is one of the easiest tummy troubles to eliminate because it's caused by eating the wrong foods and not exercising enough. HOW TO IDENTIFY THIS TYPE These people are likely to lead sedentary lives, perhaps with jobs that k...
162 comments
Read more

FLATFORM SHOES: Yay or Nay?

Yes, you heard right. It’s the flatform, not the platform! The flatform is really just a flat sandal elevated on a platform sole and it's said to be the "IT" shoe for Spring 2011. This geisha-inspired look is basically one of those styles that you either love or you don’t. And it’s another shoe that is trying to compensate for the painful high heels that have been so prevalent in past seasons. Women are asking for change. Women are wanting the height that the high heel gives but without the foot pain associated with them, so the shoe makers and designers are trying to come up with different ways to solve this problem and give women what they want…but in a stylish shoe. Key word - "stylish." I am by no means a fashion guru but these are light years away from stylish in my book. Glamour magazine however seems to think they are. But then again Glamour magazine doesn't always speak to the , around town girl that isn't trying to look avant-garde on a daily ba...
6 comments
Read more

CHICKEN NUGGETS anyone??

If this doesn't stop you from going through the drive thru - then we have quite a bit of work to do! "Mechanically Separated Chicken" is the actual name for this pink paste that looks nothing like chicken. Eventually this pink paste will be shaped into little boots, fried and placed in Happy Meals around the world! Clear explanation of Mechanically Separated Meat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanically_separated_meat Lets choose something else for lunch today shall we?
Post a Comment
Read more