My Fave Salad Ever

My friend Sue brought a salad to a potluck that I completely fell in love with. I wanted to make the same salad but I didn’t have the exact same ingredients as her so I did some experimenting. The result… is now my favorite salad of all time.

It’s really easy to make. Basically, it’s a baby spinach salad with sliced almonds, walnuts – any kind of nuts you like will do. Pine nuts are really yummy in this too. Then, dried cranberries, thinly sliced pears (I add mango sometimes too) and I use any kind of shredded cheese I have in the fridge. I’ve used gouda, mozzarella, cheddar and goat cheese… it’s all good :)

The kicker is the dressing. I mince 2-3 pieces of fresh garlic, now I LOVE garlic, so please use to taste… then I put it in a bowl with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I eyeball how much I use of those, so again, to your taste. My secret (I’m sure it’s not so secret) is brown sugar. I slowly start adding brown sugar and stirring it so it dissolves. I keep adding brown sugar until the dressing starts to thicken up.

Next, you drizzle some of the dressing on the salad, toss, and voila!!! My fave salad ever.

I usually hate salad but this salad, well, I’ve eaten a very large (enough for 5 people) worth of it once. It’s so refreshing. Nom.

Enjoy!