Spinach Salad With Pine Nuts And Goat Cheese

Looking for a salad that’s nutritious, bursting with flavor, and, most of all, not boring? My classic spinach salad with pine nuts and goat cheese is a perfect choice! Featuring tender baby spinach leaves topped with creamy goat cheese, crunchy pine nuts, and my signature balsamic vinaigrette, this salad is a delightful blend of textures and tastes

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A couple of years ago, I was out to eat at an Italian restaurant in my old neighborhood in NW Portland. Everything there was amazing, and the pastas were to die for. We had gotten a house salad to start just to get some greens in, not expecting it to be my new favorite salad. It was so simple yet fresh and delicious that I had to recreate it. Their vinaigrette was made with red wine or white vinegar, I can’t remember. However, it inspired my homemade balsamic that I use weekly for salads and marinades!

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Ingredients

I make this dressing often and sometimes like to mix it up. Feel free to add different herbs and spices or substitute balsamic for a different kind of vinegar and make it your own. The salad ingredients are more of a measure with your heart situation.

• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Lemon Juice
• Garlic Cloves
• Dijon Mustard
• Salt and Pepper
• Onion Powder
• Italian Seasoning
• Sugar – Optional
• Spinach
• Feta
• Pine Nuts
• Fruit of Choice (i.e., strawberries, apples, pomegranates, craisins)

How to Make this Spinach House Salad

• Gather all of the dressing ingredients except the sugar and put them in a blender , magic bullet, or food processor.

• Taste, and add what you think it needs, if anything. If you’d like to add a hint of sweetness, go ahead and add the sugar and blend it again.

• Assemble the salad by laying down a bed of spinach, then topping with feta, pine nuts, and apples.
• Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve!

Tips and Substitutions

If you make a lot of smoothies, salad dressings, and sauces like I do, a Magic Bullet makes life so much easier. It’s affordable, easy to use, and way easier to clean than a blender or food processor.

Rubbermaid containers are great for single-portion salads and on the go lunches. Just throw the ingredients in, snap the lid on, and shake to evenly disperse the dressing over the salad.

For a deeper, nuttier flavor, roast the pine nuts on the stove for a few minutes.

You can freestyle this salad with the toppings, I’ve swapped out the pine nuts for walnuts, used cherries, pomegranates, or strawberries instead of apples, the varieties are endless.

Add some protein to this salad to make it a meal!