This actually is probably the most wonderful spinach salad ever! Loaded with candy + spicy nuts, apples, feta, and bacon, it’s a scrumptious showstopper.
That is my most favourite salad. Ever, ever, ever.
It’s chock stuffed with all the things I really like.
- child spinach
- crisp candy apple slices
- tart dried cranberries
- tangy feta cheese
- baconbaconbacon
- candy and spicy candied pecans
The mixture of all these wonderful, scrumptious components is straight up unbelievable.
The easy dressing
The tasty French dressing for this wonderful spinach salad will be made as much as every week upfront.
It’s a throw-it-all-together-in-a-blender sort of dressing. And it’s tremendous tasty.
Which suggests you might not wish to reserve it for this salad alone. It’s a fantastic all-purpose dressing to maintain within the fridge always.
Fast Skillet Candied Pecans
The opposite star of this salad present is the candied pecans. Not solely as a result of: CANDIED PECANS, but additionally as a result of they’re made within the skillet (straightforward!) and we’re additionally making them somewhat candy and somewhat spicy.
The candy + spicy + crunchy combo takes this salad excessive; they’re in all probability my favourite a part of the entire salad.
I’ve simplified the skillet candied pecans within the recipe beneath. Plenty of readers had points with the pecans crystallizing (and so did I a instances!).
This new (simpler) technique is foolproof.
Equal components sugar and water simmer with the salt and cayenne. Throw in pecans (or walnuts), cook dinner for a couple of minutes longer, and then unfold onto parchment to chill utterly.
Glazed. Crunchy. Excellent.
This salad is a magical sum of so many yummy components, and it’s a showstopper anytime I carry wherever. Elegant, fairly, DELICIOUS!
FAQs for this Spinach Salad
The salad components are very adaptable! I feel as written, it’s the right mixture of flavors, however be happy to mess around with substitutions, leaving sure components out, or growing a favourite ingredient.
In the event you’re candied nuts, as soon as cooled, are sticky as an alternative of crunchy, they may profit subsequent time from one other minute of cooking within the skillet so the sugar can cook dinner longer.
You possibly can positively experiment! I’ve used half white wine vinegar and half pink wine vinegar earlier than with good outcomes.
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Yield:
6 servings
Prep Time:
20 minutes
Prepare dinner Time:
10 minutes
Whole Time:
30 minutes
Substances
Purple Wine French dressing:
- 1/four cup pink wine vinegar
- half cup further virgin olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic, pressed or finely minced
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- half teaspoon salt, kind of to style
- Black pepper to style
Candy Spicy Nuts:
- 1/four cup water
- 1/four cup granulated or brown sugar
- Pinch cayenne pepper (extra to style if you need)
- Pinch salt
- 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Salad:
- 16 ounces child spinach or spring greens (or a mixture)
- half small pink onion, slivered (see notice about tempering the onion taste)
- 6 to eight slices bacon, common or thick lower, cooked and chopped
- 1 cup feta cheese crumbles, kind of to style
- 1 cup dried cranberries or cherries, kind of to style
- 1 to 2 honey crisp apples, cored and sliced skinny
Directions
- For the dressing, mix all of the components till easy or mix in a jar and shake till well-combined. Refrigerate till wanted (or as much as a number of days)
- For the nuts, add the water, sugar, salt and cayenne pepper to a skillet set over medium warmth. Stir to mix. Convey to a simmer and cook dinner for 1 minute. Add the nuts and stir to coat. Prepare dinner for one more 30-60 seconds over medium warmth, stirring slowly however always. Unfold the nuts evenly on a parchment lined baking sheet and let cool. Break into items.
- To assemble the salad, toss all of the salad components collectively alongside with the cooled nuts. Toss salad with the dressing OR serve the dressing alongside.
Notes
Onions: to mood the sturdy taste of the onions a bit, soak the onion slices coated in chilly water with a little bit of baking soda (I take advantage of about half teaspoon soda). Allow them to sit for 15-20 minutes then rinse and drain effectively.
Make-Forward: all of the parts will be measured out/prepped forward of time and saved individually (I prefer to soak the apples in a little bit of lemon juice in water to assist stop browning). Toss collectively proper earlier than serving.
Candied Nuts (Previous Model): this is the older model of the candied nuts. For the nuts, flippantly toast the nuts in a 350 diploma oven for 8-10 minutes, checking typically so they do not burn. Whereas they toast, place the 1/three cup sugar and pinch of cayenne and salt in a skillet over medium-low warmth. Prepare dinner the sugar combination till it liquifies utterly, adjusting the warmth so it does not bubble and burn. Toss within the toasted nuts and stir to coat the nuts with sugar. Let the sugared nuts cool utterly.
Really helpful Merchandise
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Recipe Supply: barely tailored from my digital good friend, Kim (thanks!)
Recipe initially printed January 2014; up to date November 2020 with new pictures, recipe notes, and so on.
