Spinach Apple Raisin Salad with Glazed Walnuts
Gluten Free Living – 2024
Spinach Apple Raisin Salad with Glazed Walnuts is just delightful. This lovely salad is a compilation of several of my favorites adding a little of this and a little of that. I loved how the salad dressing turned out–light, refreshing and the perfect flavors to balance this salad. While the recipe uses spinach, it also includes spring mix, a little red onion, raisins, apples, Feta cheese, and homemade Glazed Walnuts. The walnuts take only a few minutes to glaze on top of the stove. This entire elegant salad takes only about 15 minutes to make and it’s a work of art!
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We took a meal to some friends in our church community group back in early February. I made a Barbecued Pot Roast, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Corn Pudding, Homemade Dinner Rolls, Chocolate Chip Meltaways for dessert, and this lovely salad. I make these recipes a lot for other people because I’ve made them so many times I know the recipes by heart and they always turn out fantastic. But I was very well pleased with how the Pot Roast and this salad turned out.
Spinach Apple Raisin Salad with Glazed Walnuts looks like you spent all day making it, but even though it’s so beautiful, I was done in about 15 minutes–and that included making the salad dressing. The recipe is a little bit tart and a little bit sweet with a sweet and tangy Honey Mustard-type salad dressing. It was just terrific in my opinion.
While this salad may look exotic or like it’s a lot of work, it’s really not. If your family enjoy salads for dinner, this one is incredibly good. If you want to add a little Grilled Chicken or Grilled Salmon you can make a main dish out of the recipe with equally great results. Enjoy.
Spinach Apple Raisin Salad with Glazed Walnuts is an elegant, festive salad that’s great for company.
You can make a main dish meal out of this salad by adding Grilled Chicken or Grilled Salmon.
While the salad is beautiful and looks like it takes a lot of time to whip up, I had the whole concoction done in about 15 minutes!
Here’s what it looks like with some of the salad dressing on top.
Here’s what I did.
I used these ingredients for the salad.
Heat a pan over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add walnuts and sugar.
Continue stirring for a couple of minutes, until the sugar melts and glazes the walnuts.
Here the sugar has turned a golden brown. Remove from heat.
Transfer pieces to a cookie sheet and break apart the nuts as much as possible so they’re not in “globs.” Set aside.
Meanwhile, place spring mix and spinach in a salad bowl and toss to combine.
Add finely diced red onion.
Sprinkle with raisins.
Pour lemon juice into a small bowl.
Cut apples in fourths; remove core and slice down.
Swish apple slices in bowl with lemon juice.
Remove apple slices to paper towel-lined plate to drain. Pat dry.
Add apple slices over top of raisins.
Sprinkle apple slices generously with Feta cheese.
Sprinkle glazed walnuts on top of Feta Cheese. Decorate top with additional apple slices, if desired.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
I used these ingredients for the salad dressing, plus water.
Add avocado oil and lemon juice to a blender.
Add honey.
Add applesauce and Honey Dijon Mustard.
Add water.
Puree about 30 seconds until ingredients mix thoroughly and are well blended.
Serve salad dressing with salad.
Spinach Apple Raisin Salad with Glazed Walnuts is so light and refreshing. It’s a great salad to serve in summer, but the ingredients are available all year round.
The apple-flavored Honey Mustard Dressing is fabulous with this salad.
The combination of flavors from the salad and the dressing is really palate pleasing!
Add some homemade rolls or bread and this is wonderful for lunches too.
Here’s the recipe.
SPINACH APPLE RAISIN SALAD WITH GLAZED WALNUTS
(My own concoction)
Spinach Apple Raisin Salad with Glazed Walnuts
Equipment
- 1 large salad serving bowl
- 1 blender or food processor
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- 1 sharp knife to cut apples and dice onions
- 1 cutting board
- 1 skillet
- 1 spatula
- 1 cookie sheet
Ingredients
SALAD:
- 3 cups spring mix
- 3 cups spinach de-stemmed
- 1 large Honey Crisp apple (or 2 medium) (Or use Gala or Fuji)
- 1/3 cup red onion finely diced
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1 cup walnut halves
- 6 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 cup Feta cheese crumbles
- 1/4 cup lemon juice or more, if needed
APPLE SALAD DRESSING:
- 1 large lemon (or two small lemons) — juice only
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/3 cup avocado oil
- 1/3 cup water
- 4 tsp. Dijon mustard
Instructions
SALAD:
- Heat skillet over medium heat about 3 minutes.
- Add walnut halves and granulated sugar and stir about 2-3 minutes until sugar becomes golden and melts.
- Remove from heat.
- Spread the glazed walnuts into a large cookie sheet pan and break apart individual pieces if they become stuck together in globs.
- Set aside and allow walnuts to cool completely.
- Combine spring mix and spinach and put into a serving bowl.
- Sprinkle top with red onion and raisins.
- Slice apples and swish in a small bowl with lemon juice.
- Remove from bowl and place on paper towels to drain.
- Pat apple slices dry with paper towels.
- Layer apples on top of salad.
- Add Feta cheese, then top with glazed walnuts.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
APPLE SALAD DRESSING:
- Squeeze lemon into a blender.
- (Be sure to remove any seeds).
- Add applesauce, honey, avocado oil, water and Dijon mustard.
- Puree salad dressing approximately 30 seconds in blender.
- Remove mixture to a mason jar and tighten with lid.
- Let sit on counter until ready to serve.
- Shake jar vigorously before serving.
- Remove lid and serve as desired over individual salad portions.
- Refrigerate leftovers.
Notes
© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen
Nutrition
Every bite was scrumptious!
The apple flavor really pops in the salad and using applesauce in the salad dressing.
Spinach Apple Raisin Salad with Glazed Walnuts is really quite simple to whip up. Your family and friends will love this delicious salad.
This salad is more than just eye-appealing. It’s mouthwatering to the taste buds too.
You may also enjoy these delicious recipes!
Spinach, Apple and Bacon Salad with Sugar-Glazed Walnuts
Spinach Salad with Kiwi, Berries and Toasted Pecans
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Spinach Apple Raisin Salad with Glazed Walnuts – Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen | My Meals are on Wheels
April 8, 2024 at 11:22 pm
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