Spinach salad recipes for everyone from spinach lovers to finicky eaters

Planning meals is a challenge for one reason: it’s boring to eat the same meals every week. It?s easy to fall into a food rut, grabbing the same produce and preparing the dishes at the top of you repertoire. No matter how amazing your roasted chicken and mashed potatoes may be, our bodies demand diversity – our taste buds need stimulation. A spinach salad recipe offers flavor, nutrition and plenty of room for your own creative twist.

Spinach Nutrition

Spinach is available year-round, though it?s tastiest and most abundant from March through May and September through October. This leafy, jade green is extremely good for you, and more importantly, its hardy earthiness and delicate texture tastes delicious in a spinach salad.

Popeye could have had any canned vegetable he wanted, but he chose spinach. Why? One theory amongst Popeye scholars is that he moonlighted as a researcher and understood the extraordinary anticancer, heart healthy properties of spinach.

According to the George Mateljan Foundation on World?s Healthiest Foods, spinach reduces the risk of prostate and ovarian cancer. Spinach is also a good source of folate, which converts chemicals that can lead to a heart attack or stroke, and the high levels of magnesium help to lower blood pressure. Other vitamins and nutrients in every bite of spinach include vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, iron, vitamin C, B2, calcium and potassium.

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Spinach Salad Recipe

Serve a spinach salad recipe as a side or entree. When adapting a salad for an entr?e, consider adding grilled chicken, steak or tofu steak for protein. Red and white beans are also a good, colorful source of protein.

Super Simple Spinach Salad

Toss 6 cups of fresh spinach with 1 cloves of pressed garlic, and drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil. Top with a sprinkle of Parmesan.

Cranberry Spinach Salad

There?s a wide variety of variations for a cranberry spinach salad because the combination is so versatile. Begin with 6 cups baby spinach and 1 cup of dried cranberries. Add 3 Tbsp sesame seeds, 2 Tbsp minced Vidalia onion, 1 tsp paprika and a drizzle of olive oil.

Winter Spinach Salad

Take a break from stew and try this vibrant winter salad that tastes even better that it looks. Mix 6 cups of spinach with 1 cup of dried and chopped cherries and  1 sliced green apple. Top with goat cheese crumbles and toasted walnuts. (The walnuts will melt the goat cheese just a bit.) Combine equal parts apple cider vinegar and olive oil and drizzle over top.

Asian Spinach and Chicken Salad

Grill chicken tenderloins with black pepper, lemon juice and crushed garlic. Toss 6 cups of spinach with ª cup crushed peanuts, and 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger. Lay slices of grilled chicken across the top. Mix ª cup soy sauce with ª cup rice vinegar and drizzle over top.

Classic Spinach and Bacon Salad

This is a good intro-to-spinach-salad salad. After all, it has bacon in it! Toss 6 cups spinach with 1 teaspoon black pepper, ® cup sliced red onions, 1 sliced tomato, ® cup mozzarella. Cook 3 slices of bacon and crumble and toss 2 into the salad. Top with 2 sliced hard boiled eggs (remove the yolk to reduce calories), blue cheese dressing and crumble the third piece of bacon on top. It may not smell like a salad, but it tastes delicious.

Spinach Salad with Steak and Blueberries

EatingWell.com has this wonderful spinach salad recipe, which makes a great mid-week entr?e because it?s a lot easier to make than it looks.

Color Me Lunch Spinach Salad

Take 6 cups of baby spinach, add diced beets (rinsed from an 8 oz can), 1 shredded carrot, a handful of homemade croutons and a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil. This is a healthy, cleansing lunch that?s quick and simple. Add a handful of your favorite dried fruit or nuts for a sweet or salty contrast, or 1 sliced avocado when in season.

As a hardy base for any salad, spinach lends itself to experimentation with dressing, seasoning and seasonal vegetables. Treat yourself to your favorite fresh ingredients on a bed of spinach and enjoy!

References:
World’s Healthiest Foods: Spinach
Food Reference: Buying&Preparing Spinach