Description
Light and delicious
Ingredients
Scale
10 ounces fresh spinach, stems removed
1/4 c chopped and toasted walnuts
1/2 c English cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 c pickled shallots
2 –3 oz crumbled goat cheese
For the Dressing:
6 T olive oil
2 T lemon juice
salt and pepper
Instructions
- Lightly toast walnuts in a sauté pan. Chop and set aside.
- Destem spinach and put into serving bowl
- To pickle the shallots: Slice shallots thinly. Dissolve 2 T white sugar in 1/2 cup red wine vinegar. Soak shallots in vinegar sugar mixture for 30 min- 2 hours (until they are pink and soft). Drain.
- Shake dressing ingredients in a mason jar.
- Add walnuts and cucumbers to spinach, then toss with the dressing.
- Add shallots and crumbled goat cheese to the top.
Notes
- Snap off the spinach leaf stems. It looks better and is texture changer for your salad.
- Picked shallots: slice them EXTRA thin. Dissolve 2 tsp of white sugar in about 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar. Soak the shallots (make sure they are covered by the vinegar mixture) for about 20 min. Drain out the liquid and there you have it.
- Crumble your own goat cheese. It is more moist and the uneven crumbles make for an appealing visual.
- Add crispy bacon bits or proscuitto chunks as a variation. This salad’s flavor stands alone, but I love a little salty crispiness in my salads, so one of these cured meats is a great variation to try.
- Toast your walnuts- for more flavor and desirable texture, toast your walnuts slowly and over low heat.
- Make your own dressing! Its easy and all this flavorful salad needs is a simple lemon and olive oil base.
- If you don’t want to spend time on the shallots, thinly sliced red onions are a great substitute.
- Prep Time: 30 min