Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Toasted Pecans, Goat Cheese, and Balsamic Reduction

 I'm not sure about you, but over the last couple of weeks, I have been less and less interested in cooking and baking.  It has been hard to find the motivation.  

 This hilarious meme has been circulating on facebook, and I have to admit, this is how I feel about dinner some nights, too!

When that happens, it is time to go back to basics:  homemade soup in the slow cooker (yes, you can still eat hot soup when it is warm outside); digging through the freezer to see if you can find any frozen goodies you stored when you actually felt like making extra (just scrape off the ice crystals!); and/or something that doesn't require a lot of effort.  For me this week it has been make your own rice bowl (brown rice, avocado, black beans, rotisserie chicken - pulled from the freezer, spinach, salsa, sour cream, and cheddar cheese).  For this, the only thing you need to cook is the rice.  Love it!  The other thing I have made is this tasty spinach, strawberry, toasted pecan, goat cheese, and balsamic reduction salad.  Mmmm!

 This can come together very quickly depending on how much time and motivation you have.  

Ingredients:

Spinach (take off large stems and wash well)

Strawberries (hulled, washed, and sliced)

Toasted Pecans

Goat cheese, crumbled

Maple-Balsamic Dressing (or other) *Store bought or see recipe below

Balsamic reduction *Store bought or see recipe link

Once you have your ingredients prepped, the rest is easy.  Toss the spinach with your desired amount of dressing; Put on plates; sprinkle strawberries, toasted pecans, and goat cheese over top of salad; Drizzle balsamic reduction over entire salad (this puts the salad in a whole other category of goodness!).  Enjoy!

Maple - Balsamic Dressing

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 tsp. dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Whisk ingredients to combine.  Store leftovers in fridge.

 Another easy salad to try is a Caesar Salad.  You can make this super easy by buying a store-bought dressing or you can make your own (see recipe below).  Salads don't always have to be on the side; serve them as the main course.

 Homemade Caesar Dressing

1/2 cup cottage cheese

freshly ground pepper

2 anchovies (optional)

1/4 cup skim milk

1 Tb. lemon juice

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp chopped garlic

3 Tb. olive oil

2 Tb. Parmesan (divided:  1 Tb for dressing; 1 Tb. for salad)

Process all ingredients except Parmesan cheese (a food processor works best).  Stir in 1 Tb. Parmesan cheese.  Put on washed and dried romaine and toss; Add remaining 1 Tb. Parmesan cheese.

You can make this even heartier by serving it with cooked chicken (again, check your freezer for any leftover rotisserie chicken - or purchase one fresh, so you have little to no baking or cooking).  

Hang in there!  Summer is coming...