A delightful salad that starts with a bed of baby spinach, topped with several marinated cheeses, avocado, a few sweet onions, toasted walnuts, fresh tomato and a creamy basil sun dried tomato dressing. If you want, add a little bacon too, because yeah, bacon.
I made 5 different marinated cheeses for Wine & Design this year. The fruit & cheese plates were spectacular! We had gouda, Dubliner, havarti, cheddar, & feta. And of course there were TONS of leftovers. So before Wine & Design even happened, I started thinking of ways I could use my cheeses (aside from just snacking on them) and it seemed only natural to make a salad.
Making this salad, my heart traveled back to a nutty cheese salad I had ages ago in a restaurant in California somewhere. I don’t remember where I was or the name of the restaurant, but I will never forget that salad. I had never thought to put cheeses and nuts all over a salad before … and I was in total heaven as I ate that gorgeous salad.
This salad is so much like the one that is forever embossed in my memory. If you are a cheese lover, this salad will send you into a state of nirvana. I loved it so much I had it every day for lunch for an entire week. My entire rather large supply of cherry tomatoes from my friend’s garden all went happily into my belly, day by day dwindling further until the were all gone. And then I went and bought more and continued my cheesy salad bliss.
I did put this salad on the menu for Wine & Design and one friend ordered it. The looks of ecstasy on her face as she ate it was all the reward I needed. She couldn’t believe nobody else ordered that salad … but there were quite a few things on the menu, so I’m not surprised.
You don’t have to have five kinds of marinated cheese to make this lovely salad … I’ve made it with just two marinated cheeses and it was still amazing, although I have to say, some marinated feta crumbled on top is SO good!
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Cheese Bliss Spinach Salad
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: You'll have enough dressing for about 4 salads
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup plain non-fat yogurt
- 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup low fat milk
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 – 3 Tablespoons sun dried tomato pesto, more or less to taste (recipe here)
- A few basil leaves, chopped fine
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
For the salad:
- Marinated cheeses, chopped until small bits (fhere are my recipes for marinated feta, havarti, and cheddar)
- Baby spinach leaves
- Sweet cherry tomatoes, halved
- Ripe avocado, chopped
- Thinly sliced sweet onion
- Toasted walnuts
- Cooked, crumbled bacon (optional)
Instructions
- At least 2 hours before you make the salad, marinate the cheeses. If the cheeses are pre-made and in the fridge, get them out to let the olive oil return to liquid 30 – 60 minutes ahead of time.
- Prepare the dressing by whisking together all ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.
- To make the salad, make a nice bed of spinach, then top with chopped cheeses, tomatoes, avocado, onion, walnuts and bacon.
- Drizzle with dressing and enjoy!
Notes
RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/
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This recipe was shared at Pretty Pintastic Party.
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