Spinach Salad with Tangy Red Wine Vinaigrette makes healthy delicious – pecans, blue cheese, shallots, and sweet dates tossed with spinach and a tangy, red wine vinegar, and mustard dressing.
After returning from a whirlwind weekend vacation in Savannah (post to come soon!), I’m in desperate need of all the veggies I can get.
Am I the only one this happens to? Gluttony at its finest when I’m on any kind of vacation. Or celebration. Or a night out. To boot, I’m quickly realizing my metabolism is not that of my 16 year old self anymore. Which maybe you’ve heard me whine about before, but can’t we all relate? We (I’m hoping it’s a we, and not just an I) want so badly to keep enjoying all the wine, butter, bread, and cheese we want to in life – but our waistlines have different stories.
Because I want to enjoy all these things, when I’m presented with a salad, I really have to be in the mood. If you know what I mean.
That’s how this Spinach Salad with Tangy Red Wine Vinaigrette came to be. I do truly, thoroughly enjoy salads, if they’ve got that just-right dressing, with the just-right toppings, that all meld so well together and make you think “how come I don’t eat more salads”?
The answer: because not all salads are created equal.
Spinach Salad with Tangy Red Wine Vinaigrette, however, brings a pow-wow to your healthy mission:
- Tangy homemade dressing – a little red wine vinegar and dijon mustard to take the flavor level to 11
- Spinach, spinach, spinach – make you feel whoa healthy
- Toppings upon toppings, because let’s be real, they make the salad:
- Blue cheese
- Dates
- Shallots
- Pecans
Need I say more?
Whether you love salads or need the just-right one to get you in the salad kind of mood, Spinach Salad with Tangy Red Wine Vinaigrette is going to make your salad dreams come true.
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 Tablespoons dijon mustard
- ½ Tablespoon mustard seed
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ⅛-1/4 teaspoon salt (to taste)
- ½ teaspoon pepper (to taste)
- 4-6 cups spinach
- ½ cup dates, diced
- ½ cup blue cheese (more to taste)
- ½ cup pecan halves
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- Whisk together minced garlic, dijon mustard, mustard seed, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while whisking until combined. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Toss together spinach, dates, blue cheese, pecan, shallot slices, and dressing. Serve immediately.
Recipe makes 1 cup of dressing - serving size notes 2 tablespoons per serving; I suggested adding dressing to taste, not all at one time.
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to see on Instagram or Facebook, just tag @forkinthekitchen or leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!
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