This classy spinach salad is a salad to impress! Smoky pecans and a creamy balsamic vinaigrette make the best counterpoint to this leafy green.
Here’s a salad to impress. It’s everything a classy spinach salad should be, full of texture and flavor contrasts. You’ll barely notice you’re eating this healthy leafy green when it’s covered tangy balsamic vinaigrette. There’s crunchy smoky pecans, almost bacon-like glazed with maple syrup and soy sauce. Add hard boiled eggs or a crisp-tart apple, and you’ve got a stunning side salad that will make everyone ooo and ahhh. (It happens every time we serve it…really.) It’s almost like the little black dress of salads: it’s brilliant for any occasion.
This spinach salad recipe is…
Vegetarian, dairy-free, and gluten-free. For vegan and plant-based, use the variations listed above.
Ingredients
- 2 hard boiled eggs or 1 large crisp tart apple
- ½ cup whole pecans*
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or tamari or coconut aminos)
- 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup or sugar
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 pinches kosher salt or flaky sea salt
- 1 recipe Best Balsamic Vinaigrette
- 6 cups baby spinach leaves or chopped standard spinach
- 1 shallot
- ½ cup feta cheese crumbles (optional)
Instructions
- Make the hard boiled eggs: Make the hard boiled eggs, if using (or make them in advance). Chop them into bite-sized pieces.
- Make the smoky pecans: Add the pecans, soy sauce, maple syrup and smoked paprika to a small non-stick skillet over medium heat. When it just starts to bubble, reduce the heat to low but still slowly bubbling. Simmer 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. In the last minute when the liquid is mostly evaporated, stir continuously until it is totally cooked out and the nuts start clumping together. Immediately remove from the heat and transfer the pecans to a sheet of parchment paper in a single layer. Sprinkle with 2 pinches kosher salt and allow to cool to room temperature, about 5 minutes.
- Make the dressing: Make the Balsamic Vinaigrette.
- Prep the fresh ingredients: Thinly slice the shallot. If using apple instead of hard boiled egg, thinly slice the apple.
- Serve: Place the spinach on plates or in bowls. Top with hard boiled eggs or apple slices, smoky pecans, sliced shallot, and feta cheese crumbles.