Spinach Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Salads weren't always on the menu in my house. Then came the New Years resolution to eat better and exercise. So you know what that meant, back came the salad and with that a lot of the same old thing, usually a Caesar with yogurt dressing and either chicken or shrimp, which is good don't get me wrong but can get very boring. I wanted a new go to salad, so I looked around to see what I had on hand, and spotted a lone apple just sitting in the fruit bowl. And that's when it happened that little light bulb in my head went off, Spinach Salad with apples and Goat cheese. And finally a new salad was going into the salad rotation. I decided to make my own dressing, a Balsamic Vinaigrette that gave a nice tang to the sweetness of the salad.  You will notice there are no real measurements for this, you can use as much or little of each ingredient based on your likes and dislikes.

Spinach Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Items Needed:
Melon baller, you'll see....

• Spinach
• dried cranberries
• goat cheese
• bread crumbs 
• 1 Fuji apple, cored and sliced
• pecans
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
• 1-1 1/2  tsp honey
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard 
• salt 
• pepper

• Wash and dry spinach and divide on plates
• Combine olive oil, vinegar, honey, mustard and salt and pepper to taste in a mason jar** or bowl  and mix, adding more or less of any of the ingredients depending on taste
•  Using the melon baller scoop out 4 scoops of the goat cheese and flatten, roll in bread crumbs and bake in oven for 5 minutes or so until just warmed thru. 
• Add dried cranberries, pecans, and apples to salad and place 2 goat cheese patties on top of salad. 
• Drizzle with Balsamic Vinaigrette**

** I always keep some mason jars on hand for dressings and marinades, it makes it very easy to add all of your ingredients and shake away!!! 

**This made enough dressing to have for later in the week.  


Eat and Enjoy!!

Any other salad ideas out there???