On most days I walk down to our school cafeteria at about 10:50 AM to see if they have anything appetizing in the soup and salad line. Lo and behold, recently, a new tasty morsel had been added - spinach and strawberry salad! It was complete with fresh spinach, sliced strawberries, grated cheese, honey roasted pecans, and a strawberry dressing. My stomach growled and my mouth watered all the way back to the room in which I eat lunch with our LOTE (Languages Other Than English) teachers and my fellow art teacher. With great expectation, I mixed the ingredients together within the bowl and drizzled the dressing on top.
My expectations fell flat. Not that it wasn’t a decent salad! Oh no… it was good enough. In fact, one of the Spanish teachers LOVES it just as it is! It just wasn’t the mouth wateringly deliciousness that I expected, mainly because I do not possess the love of “sweet” that many others do. My fellow art teacher shared my disappointment, and laughingly called it “dessert salad” rather than the more satisfying “lunch salad” which we had both anticipated. Before I returned to my room – nay! – even before I finished the salad – I began devising a New and Improved Spinach and Strawberry Salad in my mind. “The dressing needs to have tartness, not sweet. And olive oil…,” I thought to myself. As soon as I could, I got on Skype to get my Dutch chef friend’s (Wouter de Ruiter’s) opinion. To cut down on typing, what follows is a copy of the text from the Skype conversation. (Side Note: I am CurlyCyn, and the “wolf” behind our names signifies our tribe on the online game Tribal Wars. Yes, I am a game nerd.) CurlyCyn (Wolf): Foodie question: the school cafeteria had a spinach and strawberry salad today that had potential -- so, if I have spinach, strawberries, glazed and toasted pecans, shredded cheese, and chicken -- what would be a good dressing to top it? The one they had was sweet... and it made the whole salad too sweet... wouter (wolf): I'd use a lime-based dressing CurlyCyn (Wolf): that makes sense wouter (wolf): the freshness of the lime goes nice with the strawberries and pecans, as well as with the spinach CurlyCyn (Wolf): there was no chicken in it, either, but I think that would make it more of a "meal" and it goes well with the spinach and strawberries wouter (wolf): (nod) CurlyCyn (Wolf): so like a lime vinaigrette? wouter (wolf): yes, lime, olive oil, bit of mustard, maybe some cilantro or basil CurlyCyn (Wolf): garlic? wouter (wolf): duh CurlyCyn (Wolf): (chuckle) wouter (wolf): of course :P CurlyCyn (Wolf): so about 4 tablespoons olive oil, a teaspoon of mustard, garlic powder to taste, I'd go with cilantro, how much lime? CurlyCyn (Wolf): same amount as olive oil or less? CurlyCyn (Wolf): I'm going home today and trying it out... wouter (wolf): less, maybe 1 on 4 or 5 …then the conversation drifted into stewed eel which he was making at the moment and which I have yet to try. But I digress. I followed through on my New and Improved Spinach and Strawberry Salad that evening. It was a success! Much better suited to my taste than the one I had eaten at lunch. Without further ado, I am going to share the recipe with you: SPINACH AND STRAWBERRY SALAD (4 large servings) 8 cups of fresh baby spinach, rinsed and drained 12 large strawberries, sliced 1 cup shredded cheese of your choice (suggestions: ricotta/bleu cheese/gruyere) 9 oz honey roasted pecans, chopped 1 ½ lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, precooked and cut into bite size pieces Drizzle with dressing (below) Homemade Lime Vinaigrette Dressing 1 cup olive oil 1 T Dijon mustard 1 tsp garlic salt ¼ cup lime juice ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro (Refrigerate any unused dressing!) Hope you enjoy!
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Cynthia L. DugatArt, food and travel are all interrelated to me; therefore, my posts will focus on these three areas. Archives
April 2018
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