Spinach Apple Salad with Warm Honey Dressing

 

I have recently decided that I need to incorporate more salad into my diet. I actually really love salads of all kinds…from the plain-jane lettuce, tomato, cucumber salad, to the more “fancy” salads like this one here, and there isn’t any particular reason why I don’t eat them more except I simply don’t think about it. I buy the ingredients for it, and often wind up throwing them out because they are left in the crisper for far too long. Makes me cringe and want to smack myself every time. But, I’ve decided to make at least one meal per week into a salad, mostly on weekends (Salad Sunday, perhaps?) because I am more likely to incorporate it as a weekend lunch than a weeknight dinner. So, although I joked above about another theme day, I will not bombard you with endless theme day posts. I will just have it as my own personal salad day and randomly give you yummy salad posts…how does that sound? 🙂

I am not a fan of most nuts, and especially not in my food, but I decided to stick with the recipe on this one and incorporate the walnuts. It did give a good texture to the dish, but since I’m not a fan of them on their own, I could had done without them. You, however, who probably likes all sorts of nuts, will probably appreciate the addition of walnuts to this delicious salad!

• 1 bag Baby Spinach
• 1/2 cup Walnut halves
• 1 Granny Smith Apple
• 1 Shallot
• 1/3 cup Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 4 Tbsp Honey
• 1 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/2 cup Goat Cheese

Preparation

1. Core the apple and cut it into thin slices. Peel the shallot and slice it into very thin rings.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Add the shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallot softens and begins to brown.
3. In the mean time toss the spinach and walnuts into a large bowl.
4. Once the shallots are soft, add the apple slices to the pan.
5. Sprinkle with black pepper and add the honey.  Stir it all together just long enough to coat the apples and soften them just a bit, but not too soft.
6. Pour the vinegar over the apples and stir it all together.
7. Pour the whole skillet mixture over the spinach and toss it together.
8. Top with goat cheese, toss, and serve!