This spinach apple salad with balsamic dressing is so easy and SO good, it will be your new go-to! No one will believe it took minutes to put together.
Ingredients
½ cup Glazed Walnuts or Glazed Pecans (or toasted walnuts or toasted pecans)
1 recipe Best Balsamic Dressing
1 apple
1 ripe pear
3 cups baby spinach leaves
3 cups baby mixed greens
Instructions
– Make the Glazed Walnuts or Glazed Pecans. (While they cook, prep the rest of the salad. Or, you can make these ahead!)
– Make the Best Balsamic Dressing.
– Core the apple and pear cut them into thin slices.
– Place the greens on serving plates and top with apples, pears, and walnuts. Pour over the dressing and serve.
What makes this a great spinach apple salad?
There are so many boring spinach salads, and this one is anything but! It doesn’t have fancy ingredients or flavours, but it’s got seriously good flavour and you can make it in minutes. It’s a plant-based, healthy side dish that pairs with anything from pizza to mac and cheese to salmon to lasagna. Here are the elements that make this one great salad:
- Best balsamic dressing: This dressing is our go-to! It’s tangy and sweet, and we use it often in green salads with fruit, like strawberry salad or blackberry salad.
- Maple-glazed walnuts or glazed pecans: These are Alex’s genius: just a few minutes in a hot skillet with maple syrup makes the nuts shiny and lightly sweet. (No need to candy them!)
- Apple & pear: Instead of straight apple, we threw in a pear for depth of sweet flavour.
- Spinach & baby greens: A salad of straight-up spinach can be overwhelming. We like to pair our spinach with mixed baby greens for a variety of textures and flavours.
How to prep this spinach apple salad in advance
Here are a few notes on how to prep this spinach apple salad ahead of time, if you’re making it ahead or for entertaining:
– Make the dressing in advance and store it refrigerated. Make sure to let it come to room temperature before serving.
– Make the maple-glazed walnuts in advance. Place them on parchment or wax paper in a single layer and allow to dry for 20 minutes. Transfer to a sealed container and storeroom temperature until serving.
– Wait to slice the apples and pears until right before serving, because cut fruit can brown. If you do want to cut it in advance, mix the slices with a little lemon juice to prevent browning.
Serving this salad!
– It’s easy to whip up, but this spinach apple salad is a real showstopper. Serve it alongside your favourite pasta or stuffed peppers. It’d also pair nicely with baked salmon or even homemade pizza. This spinach apple salad is especially good in the cooler months, as it features lots of fall produce. But works any time of the year! Whatever way you serve it, we’re sure you’ll fall in love with it. We promise.
source – cooking365coza
