Stupid Simple Spinach Salad ( PALEO, WHOLE30 )
I don't know about you, but I absolutely love a salad! We usually food prep on Sunday afternoons and grill up a batch of chicken breasts or salmon and then chop and prep various toppings and additions for salads which is usually my go-to meal for lunch everyday. But then there are times when I want salad for dinner. Especially after weekends when I feel like maybe I indulged a bit much or, more recently, after I've been eating more carbs than usual in preparation for my long runs. It's also just a super quick way to whip together a healthy meal when you're pressed for time, which if you're a busy parent, that seems to always be the case.
Throwing together a good salad isn't hard to do at all, you just need to decide if you want it to be savory or sweet. I sometimes add small bits of savory to sweet salads for a punch of flavor, plus I'm just obsessed with red onion. This Sunday, we grilled several filets of salmon that I had marinated for about an hour in a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and salt, pepper and garlic. That is my base seasoning blend for just about anything. I'm part Italian and I would put garlic on a donut if I could. You just can't go wrong with it, and as a bonus, you don't have to worry about being attacked by vampires. *wink wink*
I already had a bag of baby spinach in the fridge and some super sweet organic strawberries that I needed to use up quickly, so a sweet salad it would be for dinner! I hard-boiled 3 eggs quickly (the best method I've found is to place the eggs in the pan and just cover them with water and turn the burner on med-high. Once it starts to boil, cover the pan with a lid, turn the burner off and let it sit for 17 minutes. After the 17 minutes is over, place the eggs directly into an ice bath to cool and then peel them with no problems!) and began to assemble the salad while Jeremy grilled the salmon.
Presentation is important to me, so I usually place everything on top of the greens and then drizzle dressing and toss the mix at the table once everyone is seated and I plate it from there. In a large bowl I placed the spinach, sliced strawberries, thinly sliced red onion, pecans and cranberries (I used Steve's Paleo cranberries from Whole Foods because they're sweetened with apple juice and not added sugar). I quartered the hard-boiled eggs and placed them around the edge of the bowl and added salmon on top. In this case since we had my parents visiting, and they wanted different dressing, everyone added their own dressing and mixed their salads separately. They also added cheese since they don't adhere to paleo like we do. My mom said it was wonderful with blue cheese on it, but she's nuts about blue cheese the way I am about garlic. Blue cheese donuts for her!
Making homemade salad dressing is super easy and in the future I'll share some of my favorite recipes that are quick to whip up, but out of curiosity I had purchased some Tessamae's Honey Balsamic and Organic Balsamic dressings so that's what we used. If you aren't familiar with them, Tessamae's is a super clean Paleo and Whole30 friendly line of condiments and dressings and their Ranch is amazing.
For the salmon, I had a pack of frozen skinless filets that I thawed in cold water for about 10 minutes and then marinated for close to an hour, flipping once. Jeremy cooked them on indirect heat on the grill for about five minutes per side and then he seared them directly over the flames for a minute at the end. I like my salmon cooked about medium-well, but if you prefer yours less cooked, then just subtract a couple minutes. This meal was very filling and refreshing on such a warm and beautiful spring day here in the South! Let me know your thoughts if you make it and what changes you made, if any!
Salads don't have to be boring and are jam-packed with nutrient-dense, raw food goodness! There are endless flavor and texture combinations to play with. And while also delicious, I like to think of them as healing and cleansing foods for my body. Have a wonderful week and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a giveaway or recipe!
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