With the weather getting warmer, we’re making that transition from soups to salads at our house. Grill a chop or a burger and serve this salad for a great summertime meal.
I like spinach salad because it is so versatile. Use this recipe or get creative by adding other ingredients: use green onions instead of red onions (red onions are prettier against the deep green of the spinach but their taste may be too strong for some), add sliced almonds or candied pecans, add yellow or red peppers (again, prettier than green peppers) exclude the shrimp (or in my bowl, the mushrooms). Or you can start with a completely blank canvas, then add fruits of your choice to a bed of spinach, with a sweet dressing like a raspberry vinaigrette (see post from a couple of weeks ago).
One of the dressing options shown here is also a sweet vinaigrette (courtesy of Daughter 1) that works well with the ingredients above. The blue cheese dressing is more substantial and creamier. I like them both!
If you are in a hurry, grab a bag of store-bought croutons to top this salad, but at least once, try the homemade croutons. They are garlicky and crunchy and delicious! I swear you will find yourself grabbing the leftover croutons for a snack instead of potato chips or pretzels, they are that good! They don’t keep well (they get chewy), so you don’t even have to feel guilty about finishing them off 2 hours after dinner!
Spinach is a great source of Vitamin A, the B Vitamins, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and Vitamin E (it has lots more nutrients than lettuces and has a nice chewiness. It also seems to fill you up more quickly than lettuce. If you are not a raw spinach fan, try mixing lettuce with spinach and giving it all a rough chop so you get both greens when you dig in (it’s a little sneaky, but it works!).
Spinach Salad #2
Print recipeIngredients
Salad
- 1 bag baby spinach
- 4 to 6 Large fresh mushrooms (sliced)
- 4 Large eggs (hard-boiled and cooled)
- 1/2 Small red onion (thinly sliced)
- 4 thick slices pepper bacon (cooked until crisp and chopped into half inch pieces)
- 12 Medium shrimp (boiled and cooled)
- 2 cups croutons (see directions below)
Croutons
- 1/2 Loaf French bread
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
Orange Vinaigrette
- 2/3 cups extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
Directions
| Salad | |
| Step 1 | |
| Place prepared spinach on a large platter and arrange toppings over top. Chill until ready to eat (don’t add croutons until the last minute or they will get soft). | |
| Croutons | |
| Step 2 | |
|
Peel and roughly chop garlic cloves. Place in food processor (mini processor is best as it gets closer to the bottom of the container and chops this small amount of garlic better). Add olive oil and pulse until garlic is minced and the mixture is yellow in color (maybe 30 seconds). Let rest 1 hour (minimum) so oil can absorb the garlic flavor. Cut bread into ¾ inch to 1 inch size cubes and place in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with ½ to 1 Tbs of Kosher salt. |  |
| Step 3 | |
|
Pour garlic oil mixture into a fine mesh sieve over a small bowl, pressing with your fingers (or a spoon if you don’t want to smell of eau de garlic the rest of the day) to get all of the oil into the bowl, leaving the garlic in the sieve (I use some of the squeezed garlic remains in a Caesar salad dressing, but this post is getting too complicated already-I’ll do that recipe another time!). Pour oil over bread crumbs, stirring lightly and pour all into a preheated, large frying pan over medium heat. Stirring occasionally, let bread cubes brown on all sides. This will take 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on cookie sheet. |  |
| Orange Vinaigrette | |
| Step 4 | |
| Whisk all ingredients together. Chill and whisk again right before serving. | |
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