Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Spinach Salad with Fruit and Poppy Seed Dressing


I love to just take whatever I have in my fridge or cupboards and make something really good, without making a trip to the store. So, that is what I did today for lunch. I found a recipe for this at Foodnetwork.com under "Spinach Salad with Strawberries", but changed it a bit to fit what I had and wanted to do (for this one I used mangoes and craisins). It was really good and I will enjoy it for a few more days. I like to add chicken to this to give it some protein, but did not have any in my fridge already cooked.
Salad:
6 cups of salad (I used mostly spinach and mixed it with some tossed salad that I had too)
2 cups of fruit (strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, oranges, craisins, cut up apples, whatever you have)

Dressing:
1/2 to 1 cup of salad oil (I used 1/2 cup and then added 1/2 cup of water. The dressing is not too thick this way.)
1/3 cup cider vinegar (if you don't have that use red wine vinegar or regular too)
1/4 cup sugar (I used 2 Tablespoons and it was enough)
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
2 Tablespoons of orange juice concentrate

Glazed nuts (Optional, but VERY good)
1 cup nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts)
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix dressing ingredients in a blender or shake well in a bottle. For nuts: Add nuts, sugar, and vanilla to a sauce pan. Cook over medium heat and stir often until sugar melts and coats nuts. Cool and break apart. Add fruit and nuts to salad (if you are serving salad all at once, if not I would keep them separate). Add dressing and enjoy.

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