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I'm sure Mother Nature is being a tease, but these warm temperatures that we've had this week have me all up in my spring feels lately. While I am not quite ready to put winter bedding and clothing away in storage, because we have been hit with snowstorms in April here before and I'm not counting my chickens before they've hatched, I am ready to switch to less comfort food meals in favor of lighter eats. Pretty soon we'll be able to prep our garden beds for home grown veggies, but until then I've been grabbing bags of baby spinach from the grocers so we can eat more salads at dinner in place of carb heavy side dishes. This week I found this Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese and Spiced Nuts on Golden Blossom Honey's website and added it as a side to several of our meals.
With the addition of the spiced nuts and chopped dates, this salad is on the sweeter side, which will be perfect for the upcoming warmer months. I'd probably even toss in a few chopped strawberries once they are in season for an even bigger kick of sweetness. I liked the addition of the goat cheese because like feta, it's one of those cheeses that you don't need to go heavy on to get the full flavor. Just a sprinkle will do you fine. Now, I do have to point out to watch those nuts as they are broiling. I left mine in the oven for 8 minutes which was 6 minutes too long. If you follow my Instagram stories, you'll have seen the first batch casualties which had me replaying Shania Twain's "when I cook him dinner and I burnt it black, he better say, mmmm I like it like that!" LOL. Luckily for Jason, that batch went right into the garbage and I paid much closer attention to batch #2, which came out perfect. We even had plenty leftover for snacking on for the next several days, which was nom, nom all on their own. Even though it's not quite spring yet, you'll enjoy this salad on those warm weather days we have nipping at our heels. Grab the recipe now to enjoy for months to come!
Ingredients
Dressing:
1 teaspoon scallions, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM RAW HONEY
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
Whisk together first 3 ingredients. Drizzle in olive oil and whisk again until frothy. Set aside.
Nuts:
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 egg white
1 Tablespoon GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
1 cup pecans
Salad:
1 (10 ounce) package baby spinach
2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
4 pitted dates, chopped
You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.
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Have warmer temperatures been popping up in your area yet?
Still no staying warm here, odd day and then it friggin snows again. Spinach I got plenty of though.
ReplyDeleteIt's back to rainy and chilly here, but no snow, thank God!
DeleteYes, we’ve had gorgeous weather the last few days. I can no longer eat spinach, but I’d enjoy this with other lettuce. But why broil the nuts? I always toast nuts in a skillet on the stove. Much easier to keep an eye on and turns out very tasty.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don't think it makes a difference if you broil or toast them on the stove top. I think the only difference is it gets and even heat in the oven but on the stove you have to stir them to get an even toasting.
DeleteIndeed, I was quite shocked with how badly you not burnt but carbonised those nuts, I couldn't even recognise it was nuts in the process of forensics LOL
ReplyDeleteI do ever so love spinach and chard, and I make a soup with them or puree every week when we have them.
I can only do spinach in small doses as it doesn't always agree with my belly but I also love it so much! Kale is a favorite too. I make it in an Italian wedding soup for Jason every now and again. I'll have some of the broth with the kale but it does make me gassy so it's not often we have that.
DeleteInterestingly enough, my stomach loves spinach and chard, but hates kale and cabbage, sadly, which lowers the variety of veggies I can eat.
DeleteI saw your Instagram post with the burnt nuts. I see you made a fresh batch. :) This looks delicious! Although, I would probably swap the nutritious spinach for the less nutritious romaine. Our temperatures have been crazy. It's very warm most days and them BAM a snow flurry. It makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with swapping out for your favorite greens here. It's all good!
DeleteYep, I'd add the strawberries, or even some mandarin oranges to this one, for the warmer months. I love to have fruit in my salads when it's warm outside!
ReplyDeleteYes to mandarin oranges too! That would make this a really great salad for Easter then!
DeleteI don't care for goat cheese but everything else looks great.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a long time to gain an appreciation for goat cheese, so I can understand that it isn't for everyone.
DeleteRica y diferente ensalada. Gracias por la receta. Te mando un beso
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteGoat cheese is so healthy and valuable cheese. I loved this recipe. It sounds really good. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, my friend!
DeleteIt definitely feels like spring
ReplyDeleteIt's Nebraska. The weather can't make up its mind just yet. I've been on a salad kick. This would be good to try.
ReplyDeleteSpinach, goat cheese, and dates sounds like a great combo. The dressing sounds good, too!
ReplyDelete