Ingredients

Salad:

• 3 T (1/4 c) feta cheese
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 cup fresh cooked or low sodium canned chickpeas, rinsed
• 3 cups fresh baby spinach

Dressing:

• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp juice from a lemon 
• Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Serves 2-4 (or one really large salad/meal)

Instructions

Step 1
Combine first four ingredients in a medium to large bowl.

Step 2
Combine olive oil and lemon in a separate small bowl until blended.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Step 3
Pour olive oil mixture over spinach combination and toss until well coated.  Serve.

Fun Recipe Facts in its Entirety: 

• Calories:  489  
• Total Fat: 12 g
• Saturated:  4 g (from feta cheese)
• Monounsaturated Fat:  6.5
• Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.5
• Protein: 20 g
• Fiber:  15 g
• Sodium (1/8 tsp salt):  279 g

Apple Cider Vinaigrette

• 3 T apple cider Vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper

Whisk all ingredients together


Dijon and Lemon

• 2/3 c olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (3 T...about one large lemon)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic minced (optional)
• Herbs to taste

Whisk all ingredients together


Simple Lime

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lime zested and juiced
• 1/2 tsp salt

Whisk all ingredients together


Greek

• 3 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 T red wine vinegar
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1 garlic clove minced 
• Sea salt or Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

Whisk all ingredients together

I was walking through Whole Foods and this was their taste demonstration in the produce department.  I immediately bought the ingredients I needed, and made it that night to go with our dinner.  It was easy and I have never sweetened walnuts like this.  I learned something new!  Yum!



*Ingredients:

• 1 c walnuts
• 1/4 c honey, divided
• 5 oz. mixed baby arugula & spinach
• 6 abate fetel pears (don’t let this scare you...try any pear)
• 1/4 c fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 c apple-juice-sweetened cranberries
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt

With your well stocked panty and fridge, you may not even need to make a special trip for this recipe.  Use what you got!  

Method:
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Drizzle 2 T of the honey over the walnuts and mix to coat evenly.  Arrange walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake in the preheated oven for 7-8 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, blend together the remaining honey with the lemon juice and sea salt.  Slice pears into the 1/4” slices and place them in a bowl. Pour the lemon honey mixture over the pears and allow them to sit for a couple of minutes before pouring it over the greens.

Add cranberries and walnuts and toss together until well mixed.

Serves 6


*Note:
Of course, I didn’t follow the recipe, because that is what I do. Because I enjoy greens and my husband does not enjoy the “sweet” ingredients in his salads, I made the bulk of this salad with the arugula and spinach, I used only 1 pear cut up in pieces- not 6, and sprinkled in the other ingredients to taste.  What is important here is to note the simplicity of the salad dressing, and that a healthy salad dressing is easy to make.  Parmesan cheese slivers would be great on this as well as blue cheese.  Make the portions bigger and serve with your choice of protein; salmon, chicken or steak.

If you are a fan of traditional Greek Salad and you are not sure if you like quinoa or have never tried it;  this will make you a quinoa-a-holic!

Step 1 | Dressing:

• 3 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 T red wine vinegar
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1 garlic clove smashed and finely chopped to a paste
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

Whisk dressing ingredients together.
Let sit at room temperature while you prepare the salad.

Step 2 | Quinoa:

• 1 cup Quinoa
• Kosher salt and pepper

Rinse quinoa in a strainer until the water runs clear.  Combine quinoa, 2 cups water, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper in a small saucepan, bring to a boil and cook until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes.

Transfer quinoa to a bowl and fluff with a fork and let sit for five minutes to cool slightly

Step  3 | Add all these ingredients:

• 2 cups red and yellow grape tomatoes halved
• 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
• 2 green onions (green and pale green part thinly sliced)
• 2 pickled cherry peppers diced
• 1 small red onion (halved and thinly sliced)
• 1/2 English cucumber (cut into small diced pieces)

Step 4 | Feta for sprinkling

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours before serving.  The longer it sits, the better the flavor.  Just before serving, transfer to a platter and sprinkle feta on top.

Variations:  What is in your refrigerator?  The first time I made this recipe I used carrots, diced pepperoncinis, tomatoes, cucumbers, some kalamata olives and sprinkled it with Feta.  Yum!  His dressing is so delicious that you can add any of your salad favorites.  Be creative!