Spring Spinach Salad

 We have some spinach and lettuce growing in our garden right now that over wintered, yay! We are loving it! A few nights ago I made this delicious salad with a whole bunch of spinach and some of the beautiful leaf lettuce. The recipe was shared with me by one of my good friends. It is so yummy I can't keep it to myself.

Spring Spinach Salad

 Here is the original recipe:
1 lb. Spring Salad Greens
1 large bag Baby Spinach
1/2 C. slivered Almonds (brown in 3T. sugar & water)
1/2 package Craisins
1 Cup Grated Cheese
2 Cups Mandarin Oranges, Strawberries, and Avocado
Toss together well.

Dressing:
3/4 Tb. Poppy Seeds
1/3 Cup Sugar
3/4 tsp. Salt
3/4 Cup Olive Oil
5 Tb. or less of Mustard
1/3 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 Tb. Red Onion Grated
Put dressing on salad just before serving.

Jacob and I polished off the whole bowl ourselves.

I made a few changes to the recipe simply because I didn't have a few ingredients and of course I cut it in thirds, just enough for our family to eat. But as you can see we ate the whole bowl. Me and Jacob shared it because the kids aren't big on salad, but we did make them try it.  I couldn't stop eating it.  I didn't have any almonds so I threw in some sunflower seeds. I also didn't have any strawberries or avocado, but I wish I would have. No red onion for the dressing so I left it out, but it would have been a great addition. The lesson here is you can always adapt a great recipe to better suit the ingredients you have on hand. But next time I make this I am going to plan to have the other ingredients, because it would have been that much yummier. At any rate this one was a hit and I can't wait to make it again.