The Secret to Spinach Salad

 

I have finally discovered the Secret to Spinach Salad.  As an adult woman who has to watch her calorie intake as my metabolism is forever slowing down, salads are ideal.  But I feel as though I am on a salad rollercoaster.  In theory, I should be eating salads, and only salads, for lunch and for dinner every single day.  Some days I am just not in the mood however - either that or I cannot decide on WHAT type of salad to dine on.  There are oh-so many.  To top that, even as I eat these salads, I am constantly analyzing them in regards to their net worth to me.   Some days I just want to enjoy the fresh, crisp crunch of iceberg lettuce, but the nutrient nazi in my head is saying, 'What nutrition are you getting out of this? Eating this is simply a waste of time.'  

Having said all this, I am well aware that dark, leafy greens are the way to go.  Spinach being at the top of that list - full of vitamins and minerals - some of the most vital ones, folate, iron, and vitamin A.  But depending on how it is prepared, spinach can hold a certain bitterness that simply turns me off.  In addition, if you cook it too long, well then, you might as well just eat iceberg lettuce since all those vitamins and minerals have pretty much evaporated.  And I hate the old trick chefs use to 'make spinach taste good' by creaming it or cooking it with loads of butter, oil, cream and/or cheese.  What's the point of consuming it then if you also take down two days worth of calories and saturated fat?

While creating my weekly shopping list this week I decided I was in the mood for goat cheese.  And what does goat cheese pair well with?  Spinach salad of course!  But I was determined to NOT be subject to the bitterness of the spinach this week.  Seriously, I do not want to dine on bitter spinach.  Ever.  Again.  It just so happened that this week I was attending a cooking class at Sur La Table with a high school friend in the driver's seat.  And in her cooking class we were making: spinach salad.  She shed some light on what was necessary - what I had been missing.   Typically I create all-vegetable salads, and what she reminded me of was that foods need balance and that balance is created by contrast.  The bitterness of the spinach was of course balanced by the sweet tang of the goat cheese - but just one more element was enough to tip the scales completely in my favor - fruit.  

Be it strawberries, raspberries, sliced apples or orange wedges - the addition of fruit with your bitter green salads will open up a whole new world.  As always, I am dedicated to eating healthy, but I want to really enjoy the healthy food I am consuming to continually remind myself it is worth it.  So in this entry photo, you are looking at a delicious spinach salad complete with spinach, goat cheese, a sprinkling of walnuts and strawberries.  I am now at peace with the leafy green known as spinach - and off to pursue more good foods, making them taste great.