Baby spinach salad with strawberries, oranges and toasted pecans

By junerodgers

The traditional spinach salad with crumnbled is loaded with fat, sodium and extra calories. To make the salad into a meal, top with grilled salmon, The extra orange dressing can serve as a sauce for the fish.

Ingredients

• For the dressing
• Juice and finely grated zest of 1 orange (1/4 cup juice, 1 tsp zest)
• 1 T white wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Dijon-style mustard
• 2 tsp honey, or more to taste
• 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Feshly ground black pepper
• For the salad
• 3-4 oz baby spinach leaves, washed and dried (about 6 cups)
• 2 large naval oranges, cut into segments
• 8 oz strawberries(hulled), small ones cut in half, medium ones quartered, large ones cut into eighths (a generous 1 cup cut up)
• 1/2 cup pecan halves, toasted and coarsely chopped.

Preparation

Step 1

Prepare the dressing; whisk together the orange juice, zest, vinegar, mujstard and honey in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil to form an emulsified dressing. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The yield is a scant 1/2 cup.

Place the spinach in a salad bowl or on individual plates. Scatter the oranges and strawberries over the spinach; top with the toasted pecans. If making one large salad, pour 1/4 cup of the dressing over the salad and toss to mix. If making individual salads, drizzle 1 T over each salad. Serve immediately.