Spinich Salad with Roasted-Onion Vinagrette

I’m the kind of person who tries to eat as little prepackaged and processed foods as possible. I think across the board it’s equally because of the health benefits as well as the fresh taste and cost-effectiveness in making it myself. So when it comes to things like salad dressings I really don’t see the point in spending $4 on a bottle of dressing that could have been sitting on the shelf for a year and you’d never know it with the preservatives they’ve pumped into it, especially when I can make something tastier and better for me for less than a $1 at home in a matter of minutes.

In my last post I explained that I had my girls over last night and made them a two-part first course of Beet and Raspberry Soup as well as this Spinach Salad with Roasted Onion Balsamic Vinaigrette, so here’s part two (a day early because I decided on a last minute trip to Chattanooga to see my manfriend ;-)).

What you’ll need:

For the dressing:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 small red onion, halved

1/4 cup balsamic or more to taste, this is really up to you so start slow and taste as you go

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salad:

1 package fresh spinach

Feta crumbles

Craisins

Pecan pralines

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. In a small oven-proof dish, place the onion halves flat side down and cover with the olive oil. Roast in the oven for 50 minutes or until it looks caramelized. Take out and let the onion cool in the olive oil until it comes to room temperature.

2. Place the onion halves in your food processor (or blender) and pulse until smooth. With the food processor running slowing drizzle the olive oil into the food processor. Follow with the balsamic, tasting as you go, adjusting the seasonings. Keep processing until the dressing looks foamy. Add your salt and pepper, pulse a few more times to combine. Taste, adjust the flavor if needed.

3. Assemble the spinach on salad plates, top with feta crumbles, craisins, and pecan pralines (to your tastes), then drizzle with the Roasted Red Onion Vinaigrette! Voila!

Two posts in one day! Thanks for reading y’all! GO EAT SOMETHING!

Donielle

 

27 Dec This entry was published on December 27, 2012 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Salad, Vegetarian. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.