Spring in a salad bowl

Spinach Salad

I haven't done a Recipe Corner in ages! This was supper tonight. It was so pretty I had to take a picture!

Lisa's Very Adaptable Spinach Salad

• 1 pkg baby spinach
• 1 lb fresh strawberries, halved or quartered depending on size (or other fruit of your choice: mandarin oranges, mango, pear, even dried fruit like cranberries or apricots... be creative)
• 1 sweet bell pepper, diced (I used yellow to contrast with the red strawberries; if I were using mango or oranges, I'd go with red pepper)
• 1 carrot, cut in thin slices, grated, or julienned
• Very thinly sliced sweet onion, to taste (I used about a quarter of a red onion for colour as well as flavour)
• A handful of very finely sliced cabbage (especially purple cabbage) is optional, but nice for added crunch and colour
• 1/4 cup of nuts of your choice, toasted and cooled (I used pine nuts, but pecans, walnuts, slivered almonds, even sunflower seeds would also work)
• Optional: 3-4 ounces soft/crumbly cheese (I used a creamy havarti, but you can substitute feta, brie, chevre, etc. -- even a mild blue cheese like gorgonzola would be lovely)
• Vinaigrette
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Optional: 1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, marinated in your vinaigrette and sautéd or grilled and sliced (heck, I suppose you could even do steak or lean boneless pork)

Place all ingredients except chicken in large salad bowl. Toss with vinaigrette; I used extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar shaken with a bit of dijon mustard and garlic. If desired, top each serving with chicken -- warm if you like a slightly wilted salad, or cool if you prefer it crispy.

If you leave out the cheese, or replace it with hardboiled egg or marinated tofu, this would also be great with an Asian-inspired dressing like ginger-soy or orange-sesame.

If you use feta, tomatoes for your fruit, and add some cucumber and black olives, you could do a Greek-style dressing with lemon juice, olive oil, and oregano.

My mother-in-law Shirley does a killer version sans chicken, with pomegranate seeds, pralined pecans, chevre, and poppyseed dressing.

Raspberry dressing is awesome with mango.

I'm sure you can come up with your own variations!

With chicken, this will serve 4 as a dinner salad; you could probably serve 8 as a side salad without chicken.