Baby Spinach & Avocado Salad

Baby Spinach &Avocado Salad
This is a perfect little salad to serve as a healthy appetizer  before a meal, a quick lunch, or a late night “snack”, whatever your little heart desires. Like most salads, it’s simple, super easy to make, and in no time you have a healthy, nutrient filled addition to your daily diet. One day I was craving a salad, and went to explore my fridge to see what I could whip up… And based on what fresh ingredients I had that day I present to you this Baby Spinach, Avocado and Pine-Nuts Salad:

Serving: 4
Method: Tossed & Mixed
Time: Prep time: 10 min.

Ingredients:
Salad:
1-pound baby spinach (I prefer organic baby spinach because the leaves are a lot softer and tender than those of regular spinach, which I like to use when sauteing the spinach)
2 fresh cucumbers
2 cups of cherry tomatoes
1 whole ripe avocado (make sure the avocado skin is dark & a little soft when you press on it, but not too soft, that is what indicated that it is ripe, otherwise you will not get that delicious and creamy texture in the salad)
½ cup of roasted pine-nuts

Dressing:
½ shallot, diced
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp real lemon juice (please use juice of a real lemon and not store bought from a bottle)
½ tsp sugar (white or brown, although brown sugar does give the dressing a nicer, rich flavour, but if you don’t have brown, then by all means, go ahead and use white)
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
On a medium heat roast pine nuts in a pan for about 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally so that all sides get equally roasted. Once they’re roasted, make sure you take them out of the pan and lay them across a flat surface. If you keep the pine nuts in the pan or put them in a tight bowl, they’ll still be cooking for another minute or so and you run the risk of burning them. So lay them on a flat surface to cool down.

Meanwhile, wash baby spinach, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and avocado. Dry the spinach in a dishtowel to get rid of the excess water. Cut up the cucumbers into thin slices. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half diagonally. And cut up the avocado into cubes. In one of my later posts, I will write a step-by-step guide on how to know when the avocado is ripe and how to easily cut open an avocado.

Now in a large, preferably round salad bowl combine baby spinach, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and avocados. In a separate small bowl combine and whisk together diced shallots, balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper and pour over the salad. Give it a nice toss, until all of the ingredients are coated evenly with the dressing

Divide and plate the salad into 4 plates. Sprinkle a generous amount of roasted pine nuts over top and you’re done and are ready to eat! It really couldn’t be any easier than that!

Bon Appétit!