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Spinach Salad with Balsamic Poppy Seed Dressing

If you’re looking for a quick lunch salad, try this spinach salad with balsamic poppy seed dressing. It’s loaded with fruit, feta and walnuts!

Spinach Salad with Balsamic Poppyseed Dressing | Honey and Birch

Sometimes life is a little crazy (or boring) and you just don’t want to cook.  That’s where I was at this Thursday afternoon.  It’s not a familiar feeling – I like being in the kitchen usually, experimenting over the stove top.  It’s also not a nice feeling. 

I feel guilty every time I don’t want to cook – food blogging has done that to me.  Even ordering takeout brings out a little of the Catholic guilt that was instilled into me as a kid.

Hunger usually prevails and I have to make something to eat or starve. 

I went through the refrigerator and freezer, trying to figure out what I could make with what was on hand – bonus points for needing just a little bit of work.  It was a tossup between a frozen pizza and this salad.  One would require me to turn on the oven and the other would require some turning of a whisk.

Whisking won out thanks to fresh ingredients versus frozen, and this recipe was born.

Spinach Salad with Balsamic Poppyseed Dressing | Honey and Birch
Spinach Salad with Balsamic Poppyseed Dressing | Honey and Birch

I read somewhere once that you should have a colorful plate and you can’t get much more colorful than this salad.  Brightness and color comes from the vibrant spinach leaves and grapes. 

They are balanced out by the deep undertones of the blueberries and the neutral tones of the feta and walnuts.  To top it all off is the balsamic poppy seed dressing and its so good you will want to eat it on its own.

Spinach Salad with Balsamic Poppyseed Dressing | Honey and Birch
Spinach Salad with Balsamic Poppyseed Dressing | Honey and Birch

This recipe will make about 4 large salad portions – if you serve the salad without the dressing and then put the leftovers in the fridge, it shouldn’t get too wilty. 

Think leftovers, or maybe even stick it in your morning smoothy.  If anyone tries the smoothie thing, let me know how it goes!

Depending on how much salad dressing you put on a salad, this recipe will make alot of dressing.  I drizzle the dressing or dip my fork into it, so there is a mason jar of leftovers sitting in the fridge. 

If you like your salad to swim, I still think there will be enough in one batch for you.  Either way, if there are leftovers, fridge them!

I’m making up verbs now.

Spinach Salad with Balsamic Poppyseed Dressing | Honey and Birch

Spinach Salad with Balsamic Poppy Seed Dressing

If you're looking for a quick lunch salad, try this spinach salad with balsamic poppy seed dressing.  It's loaded with fruit, feta and walnuts!
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Course: Salads
Cuisine: lunch
Servings: 4
Calories: 358.5kcal

Ingredients

Salad Dressing

  • 1 cup low fat mayo
  • 6 teaspoons agave nectar
  • 4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon poppy seeds

Salad

  • 2 cups spinach
  • ½ cup grapes halved
  • ½ cup blueberries
  • ½ cup walnuts chopped into ½ inch pieces
  • ½ cup feta cheese

Instructions

To Make the Dressing

  • In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix well with a wire whisk.
  • If you'd like a thinner consistency, add water in ¼ teaspoon increments until desired consistency is reached.

To Make Salad

  • In a large bowl, combine the spinach, grapes, blueberries, walnuts and feta cheese. Spoon onto four plates and drizzle with salad dressing.
  • Refrigerate leftover salad dressing.

Nutrition

Calories: 358.5kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 5.9g | Fat: 26.4g | Saturated Fat: 5.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 14.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 25.6mg | Sodium: 691.4mg | Potassium: 236.4mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 18.2g | Vitamin A: 1.55IU | Vitamin C: 9.4mg | Calcium: 134.9mg | Iron: 1.2mg
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4.25 from 4 votes (1 rating without comment)
Recipe Rating




Frugal Hausfrau

Tuesday 23rd of February 2016

I love balsamic, I love poppyseed; never thought to put them together. Beautiful salads, too! Thanks for sharing this with us on Throwback Thursday! See you next week! :)

Mollie

EYMI ADRIANZA

Wednesday 15th of October 2014

i love everything about this simple but super yummy recipe! i am in love with salads thas has grapes plus the balsamic touch on the dressing must give it a unique taste.

Michael Lambert

Saturday 2nd of August 2014

My wife loves balsamic vinegar dressing and would probably love this.

Athena Emmanouilidis

Saturday 2nd of August 2014

It looks so good and I'm hungry

Birdiebee

Saturday 2nd of August 2014

What a great looking salad. I am going to have to try this out as it has all of the ingredients I love. I have pinned it for future reference. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.

Jenny B

Sunday 3rd of August 2014

Thank you, and thanks for pinning!