Aunt Chris's Spinach Salad

I made this salad for our July 4th extravaganza and it was, is, and remains to be one of my favorite salads EVER.

In MY book it's the perfect salad for summer.  It's light and crisp tasting (made possible by the greatest salad dressing known to man) and it's a breeze to whip together.  Make this for your next summer BBQ!  Your friends, neighbors, and coworkers will thank you.

My mom introduced me to this delectable (and healthy!) dish after spending a weekend with my Aunt Chris, and I've been obsessed with it ever since.

My college graduation gift from my mother was a handwritten cookbook binder of all of our family recipes.  It's something I cherish and one of the things I'd grab if my house was burning to the ground (knock on wood that NEVER happens, though).

It involves layers of delicious things like toasted pine nuts (yum!), feta cheese (DOUBLE yum!), cubed cucumber, tomatoes, and my personal favorite go-to dressing.

I think the dressing is what MAKES this salad.  Like the icing on a cake!  Mmm... CAKE.

Ahem.

This recipe has your typical homemade salad dressing ingredients - you know; your oil, your vinegar, your spices - but I think that so much of a dressing (or a marinade for that matter) is contingent upon the type of vinegar used.  I find this dressing to be positively divine when it is made with white wine vinegar.

Divine, I tell you.

Also, Aunt Chris's recipe calls for mini/small pasta, cooked and cooled.  If I'm eating low carb I'll omit the pasta entirely.  This time I made the salad with gluten-free pasta (for a few of the sensitive tummies at the party) and I wouldn't have even detected the difference in pastas had I not made it myself.

Win win, man.

I love how this says "spinach - shredded."  Precious.

Let's all take a moment to appreciate my mother's immaculate handwriting.

I just usually buy 2 bags of pre-washed spinach, dump it out on a cutting board, and chop until the spinach resembles something like this:

Easy peasy.

Also, Aunt Chris's recipe calls for one package of crumbled feta cheese.

I use two.  I love me some feta, man!  When it comes to feta, I'm of the opinion that more is more.  I like it when the feta covers the entire top layer.

Like this.

Yummmmm.

Also, the recipe calls for pine nuts.

Toasted pine nuts.

Toasting them is easy and aromatic when you scatter the raw pine nuts into a saute pan on low heat and remember to toss them around every once in a while.  Fun fact?  I have never NOT burned pine nuts.  I burn them every time, including THIS time as evident by the state of the pine nuts in the above photo.

Don't be like me.  Keep watch over your pine nuts when you toast them.

So, on that happy note --- sit back, relax, and let me show (meaning TELL) you how to make your new favorite summer salad.



Anyhow, here's the secret!

You'll need:

• 2 bags of baby spinach, chopped

• 1 cucumber, cubed

• 3-4 roma tomatoes cubed

• 2 packages of crumbled feta cheese

• 6 green onions, chopped

• 1 package (1/3 cup) toasted pine nuts 

• (optional) 2-3 cups of cooked, drained, and cooled mini or gluten-free pasta 

Layer the items in a large glass bowl until ready serve, then toss with dressing.  We layer the spinach as the base, and then line top outer ring with the other layers to create a visual layered effect.
Dressing:

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar

• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

• 3 cloves minced garlic

• 1/2 tablespoon dried thyme

• 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano

• salt and pepper to taste

ENJOY!