Spinach Salad

I love the convenience of bagged baby spinach, but I get a little tired of sauteing it, which is usually how I prepare it.  However, I'm not a huge fan of raw spinach. Quite the conundrum when faced with a bag of spinach from the co-op. I found a glimmer of hope last week when I made a delicious spinach salad.

I mixed bagged baby spinach with some romaine I had leftover, so it was basically half and half lettuce and spinach. I'm sure that helped mitigate my fear of raw spinach. I also had a few ripe strawberries so I sliced them and threw them on top. I buy the big bags of sliced almonds at Costco because Lily loves nuts and those are the only ones I'm not afraid she'll choke on. The almonds added a great crunch, and next time I'll toast them first.

The dressing is one I've been making a lot lately, but I think it was especially perfect for the ingredients in this salad. I used walnut oil but olive oil would have worked fine, along with balsamic vinegar, sliced red onion, a clove of garlic, salt and pepper. Simple as could be. I let it sit for about 30 minutes while I prepared the rest of dinner, and it helped the garlic and onion infuse their flavor into the dressing. You could either toss out the garlic and onion or leave it in when you dress the salad.

Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Almonds

Dressing:

2 T balsamic vinaigrette

1/3 c. walnut oil or olive oil

2 T. finely chopped red onion

1 finely chopped garlic clove

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and let sit for 30 minutes - 1 hour

Salad:

1/2 bag of baby spinach

1/2 heart of romaine

4 strawberries, sliced

1/4 c. sliced almonds, toasted