Spinach Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

I don't know if I ever could get tired of spinach salad with honey balsamic vinaigrette. The vinaigrette tastes so good and allows for so many variations of salad greens and toppings. You can use baby spinach or a mix of baby spinach and other salad greens. Top the greens with the fruit of your choosing or whatever is in season. Add some toasted nuts, or some sunflower seeds or toasted pumpkin seeds if you can't have nuts. And if you are feeling decadent, add some crumbled goat cheese or blue cheese as well.

If you would like to make the salad for a large group of people, you can go to the following link for mixed green salad with pecans, goat cheese, and honey mustard vinaigrette. The vinaigrette is similar to the one I make, except that it doesn't include any honey. The measurements in that recipe make enough for at least 10 people, and if you want to include honey, use 2 tablespoons.

Spinach Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette
serves 2 adults

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1 tsp. honey mustard. I use Annie's Naturals Organic honey mustard, which is gluten-free and contains no corn, since it uses cider vinegar instead of distilled vinegar. However, most brands of honey mustard are probably okay. If you don't have honey mustard, just add an additional 1/2 tsp. honey.
  
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/8 tsp. minced garlic
  
• sea salt and black pepper to taste
• baby spinach or mixed salad greens. We really like Trader Joe's "Sorrento" mix of baby arugula, baby spinach, and baby lettuces.
• goat cheese or blue cheese. If cooking for us, leave these on the side because Michael doesn't prefer goat cheese and he sometimes reacts to blue cheese.
  
• sunflower seeds, toasted pecans, toasted almond slivers, or toasted pumpkin seeds
  
• dried cranberries, fresh blueberries, fresh strawberries, fresh pear slices, or dried apple slices

Instructions:

Whisk together the balsamic vinegar, honey, and honey mustard. Slowly pour in the olive oil while continually whisking very quickly so that the liquid emulsifies. Then add the minced garlic and the salt and pepper to taste. I usually leave the vinaigrette in a bowl to the side of the spinach and greens so that people can drizzle on as much as they would like.

If serving with fresh strawberries or pears, wash and slice the fruit. You can add the fruit to the greens or place on top of each person's individual plate of greens. I like to arrange each plate with greens and then the toppings because otherwise all of the good stuff tends to get lost at the bottom of the large serving bowl of greens.