Spinach salad with blue cheese and apples

3
Points®
Total Time
20 min
Prep
20 min
Cook
0 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy
This quick and flavorful salad is ready in just 20 minutes and perfect as a side salad on a busy weeknight, base salad for some grilled salmon as a main dish or beautiful centerpiece when you entertain buffet style for holiday meals. The classic combination of blue cheese and apples are always a hit and play so well together with the strength of the cheese curtailed by the sweetness of the apples. Change up your fruit and cheese easily with mandarin orange slices and feta cheese or pears and goat cheese. The honey roasted almonds are a sure hit and will go with any pairing you choose.

Ingredients

Kosher salt

½ tsp

Garlic

1 small clove(s), minced

Apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp

Orange juice

fl oz

Olive oil

2 tsp

Dijon mustard

2 tsp

Black pepper

tsp, freshly ground, or to taste

Spinach

20 oz, 2 (10-ounce) baby variety, rinsed

Apple

2 medium, tart, cored and sliced into thin wedges

Red onion

¼ medium, very thinly sliced

Blue cheese

¼ cup(s), crumbled, not packed, (1 ounce) crumbled

Honey roasted almond

2 Tbsp, or hickory smoked, coarsely chopped

Instructions

  1. To make the dressing, sprinkle the salt over the garlic on a cutting board. Mash to a paste with the flat side of a heavy knife. In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic-salt paste, the vinegar, orange juice, oil, mustard, and pepper.
  2. To prepare the salad, place the spinach in a large salad bowl and toss with half the dressing. Top with the apples, onion, blue cheese, and almonds, arranged in an attractive pattern. Drizzle with the remaining dressing. Yields 1 cup per serving.

Notes

Replace the orange juice in this recipe with 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Omit the blue cheese and almonds and use 2 chopped hard-cooked eggs instead.