Delicious Spinach Salad

Okay true story, one day I needed to bring something to the church dinner and I opened up my fridge to see what I had. I had baby spinach leaves and blueberries. I thought to myself, now there is a start of a delicious salad. I just needed to go to the store next and pick up a few more yummy ingredients. I am not one for store bough dressings so I first whipped up a dressing. I used Rice Wine Vinegar, lime juice, sugar, and olive oil. Then I added a touch of ginger, nutmeg, and balsamic vinegar. Mixed it to taste and put what I had in a lovely to go container. Then I was off to my neighborhood Safeway for some sort of crumbly cheese and well I wasn’t certain what else. A the store the produce department greeted me and I saw a gorgeous Granny Smith Apple. I added that to my cart. Then I went to cheese section and found some feta. I sliced the apple super thin and tossed it with lime juice before adding it to the spinach and blue berries. Then I sprinkled a generous amount of Feta cheese on top and let everyone portion dressing themselves.

It was such a hit that when I had to make three side dishes three nights in a row, I purchased the same ingredients at Cosco and took it to each of the venues. Oh and if blueberries are a bad price at the store try a can of mandarin oranges. Then use the can’s juices to toss the apples in. The citrus keeps them from turning brown.  I’d then switch the lime in the dressing to orange marmalade and don’t add the sugar. After my events were done, I switched up the salad to have spinach, red bell pepper, and feta cheese. For this salad’s dressing I used balsamic vinegar and olive oil with a dash of garlic and Trader Joe’s 21 seasoning salute. That by the way is the best seasoning blend I have ever used. Maybe it deserves its own little post.

Salad #1 ingredients: Baby Spinach, Blueberries, Sliced green apple, and Feta Cheese. With a Lime based dressing

Salad #2 ingredients: Baby Spinach, Canned Madarin Oranges, Sliced green apple, and Feta Cheese. With a Orange marmalade based dressing

Salad #3 ingredients: Baby Spinach, Red Bell Pepper, and Feta Cheese. With a Balsamic Vinegar based dressing

Next time I’ll take pictures.

Hmmm… I think I need another Safeway run.