Dried Fruit Spinach & Romaine Salad

Yields 8 Servings

Years ago - it was wintertime - I was travelling to New England. I always arrived at airports early. At 6:30 AM and restless, I purchased my usual cup of coffee and a Discover magazine - an intriguing article of how the solar system was formed was on the cover. I couldn't resist.

I love dried fruits, but rarely seem to purchase them. This time I did, intended for a snack at the hotel that evening. Dried apricots...absolutely fabulous! A small bag went into my overcoat.

That evening the regional sales manager and I dined at a gourmet restaurant. Without shame, after we were served our salads (I ordered the spinach), I reached into my overcoat which I did not check in, and added some dried apricots with a whim, making sure no one was aware.

Oh, my…Oh my…! I had discovered something new! Only later did I learn that the rest of the universe had been eating this way for centuries.

More frequently now, but not often enough, I will purchase dried fruits, with the intention of adding them to my salad. They add a wonderful bite and flavor - especially the apricot or dates.

Guten Appetit...!

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Ingredients

• 1 tblsp butter
• ½ - ¾ cup nuts of choice (1)
• 1 cup dried fruit of choice (2)
• ¾ lb spinach – shredded to bite-size (3)
• ¼ lb romaine – shredded to bite size (3)
• 3 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 medium size thinly sliced onion
• ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup white wine – chardonnay
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• Feta cheese (4)

Preparation

1. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook and constantly stir nuts in butter until slightly toasted. May also be roasted in the oven without butter. I prefer butter toasted instead of finishing in the oven or plain nuts.
2. Combine the salad with the toasted nuts and dried fruit or fruit mixture.
3. In a small bowl, thoroughly blend the sesame seeds, sugar, onion, pepper, wine, vinegar, and olive oil.
4. Toss with spinach just before serving.
5. Sprinkle each individual serving with Feta cheese, if desired.

Notes

(1) Select your favorite nuts, blanched or not, roasted or not – slivered, sliced or chopped. I make this salad with walnuts, almonds, pistachios, pecans, or my favorite, salted and halved cashews.

(2) Go Crazy…! Select your favorite dried fruit or mixture of fruits, chopped to raisin size bits – apples, apricots, bananas, boysenberries, cranberries, dates, lemons, figs, pineapple, plums or pomegranates. My favorites are apricots, dates and pomegranates. I like mixing dates and apricots.

(3) Use spinach only, if desired and increase to 1 pound. I like to tone down the spinach bitter and also get the crunch of the romaine.

(4) Leave out the cheese if desired. I like a sprinkle of Feta.

Laß es Dir schmecken...!

Oh, Palease...! is copyright and a trademark of Christoph G. Olesch. All text and recipes Copyright (C) 2010. Christoph G. Olesch. All rights reserved. Eat What You Want - A Diet For Real People and Eat What The Hell You Want - A Diet For Real People is Copyright (C) 2010. Christoph G. Olesch. All rights reserved.