Warm spinach salad with spicy walnuts, braised pears, and raspberry vinaigrette
- Minutes to Prepare:
- Minutes to Cook:
- Number of Servings: 4
Ingredients
2 cups spinach2 cups field greens1/4 cup dill (optional)2 medium pears (your favorite variety)1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen, but NOT frozen in syrup!)1/2 cup orange juice1/3 cup balsamic vinegar1 cup walnut pieces3 Tbs maple syrup1 Tbs chili powder1 Tbs black pepper
Makes four 1-cup servings.
Wash and dry greens, toss.
Toss walnut pieces in maple syrup, chili powder, and black pepper. The nuts should be barely coated, not dripping with syrup; adjust amount of syrup if needed. Heat a non-stick pan briefly over medium heat (no oil) and add walnuts. Toss walnuts often to prevent charring; when they start to brown, cook another couple minutes. Keep tossing! Add walnuts to salad.
Unless the pan is really black, you can continue without washing. Add enough OJ to the pan to generously cover the bottom, and scrape up browned bits with a wooden spoon.
Wash pears, cut in half and remove core (keep skin on!). Slice thinly (less than 1/4") and add to the orange juice in the pan. Braise over medium heat until soft. Remove pears from OJ, add to greens. (Save the leftover OJ in the pan.)
To the same pan, add the raspberries, the rest of the OJ, and the balsamic vinegar. Smash the berries with a spoon as you stir over medium heat. Adjust OJ and vinegar amounts to taste; heat until the dressing starts to thicken-- I like mine about the consistency of runny jelly. Pour over the salad and serve while it's still warm!
Hint to help with dinner timing: Prepare everything in advance but wait to heat the dressing until 5-8 minutes before dinner goes on the table. You can hold the dressing if you need to by adding water and continuing to heat.
Hint for taking the salad to lunch: Take the walnuts and greens in one container, and the pears and dressing in a second container. Then you can microwave the pears and dressing and pour over for a quick and delicious lunch!
Number of Servings: 4
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user BRANDY_SUE.
Wash and dry greens, toss.
Toss walnut pieces in maple syrup, chili powder, and black pepper. The nuts should be barely coated, not dripping with syrup; adjust amount of syrup if needed. Heat a non-stick pan briefly over medium heat (no oil) and add walnuts. Toss walnuts often to prevent charring; when they start to brown, cook another couple minutes. Keep tossing! Add walnuts to salad.
Unless the pan is really black, you can continue without washing. Add enough OJ to the pan to generously cover the bottom, and scrape up browned bits with a wooden spoon.
Wash pears, cut in half and remove core (keep skin on!). Slice thinly (less than 1/4") and add to the orange juice in the pan. Braise over medium heat until soft. Remove pears from OJ, add to greens. (Save the leftover OJ in the pan.)
To the same pan, add the raspberries, the rest of the OJ, and the balsamic vinegar. Smash the berries with a spoon as you stir over medium heat. Adjust OJ and vinegar amounts to taste; heat until the dressing starts to thicken-- I like mine about the consistency of runny jelly. Pour over the salad and serve while it's still warm!
Hint to help with dinner timing: Prepare everything in advance but wait to heat the dressing until 5-8 minutes before dinner goes on the table. You can hold the dressing if you need to by adding water and continuing to heat.
Hint for taking the salad to lunch: Take the walnuts and greens in one container, and the pears and dressing in a second container. Then you can microwave the pears and dressing and pour over for a quick and delicious lunch!
Number of Servings: 4
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user BRANDY_SUE.
Nutritional Info Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 340.1
- Total Fat: 20.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
- Sodium: 42.8 mg
- Total Carbs: 39.1 g
- Dietary Fiber: 7.9 g
- Protein: 6.4 g
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