Cranberry Spinach Salad

Eat your vegetables, Mom always said. After discovering this amazing salad dressing by Jamie Hensley on allrecipes.com, eating greens is no longer a chore. In fact, this has made salad one of my favorite foods. Here's the recipe to the tangy, sweet vinegar and oil dressing that you can make yourself. 

Jamie's Cranberry Spinach Salad

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered
• 1 pound spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons minced onion
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions: 

1. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook and stir almonds in butter until lightly toasted. Remove from heat, and let cool.
2. In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the toasted almonds and cranberries.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, onion, paprika, white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, and vegetable oil. Toss with spinach just before serving.

Notes: It takes about 20 minutes to prepare this salad. This is enough for about 8-12 servings. At our house, we like to double the recipe and keep the dressing in a bottle, then add it to the greens and sprinkle on the toppings. I use Romaine lettuce when spinach isn't in the fridge, and I don't always toast the almonds; it still tastes great. For a variation, you can replace the cranberries with fresh, sliced strawberries. I've also enjoyed the addition of cooked chicken to the dish, and some say it's good with chopped apple. You can read all its five-star reviews here at the allrecipes site.

Isaiah 40:8