Spinach and Apple Salad with Dragon's Breath Cheese Vinaigrette

By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

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Spinach and Apple Salad with Dragon's Breath Cheese Vinaigrette

This recipe makes 8 servings

Nutritional Info
Per each of 8 servings: about	-
cal	315315 cal
pro	9 g9g pro
total fat	24 g24g total fat
sat. fat	5 g5g sat. fat
carb	19 g19g carb
fibre	3 g3g fibre
chol	18 mg18mg chol
sodium	435 mg435mg sodium
% RDI:	-
calcium	1313 calcium
iron	1414 iron
vit A	2828 vit A
vit C	2020 vit C
folate	4343 folate

More great recipes from this menu:

Chef Craig Stelmack makes Maple's outstanding spinach salad, crunchy with hot allspice-roasted walnuts, salty and smoky with strips of crisp bacon, sweet and fresh with apples, and dressed and garnished with really stinky blue cheese. It's an adult salad, but beware: it's addictive.

Ingredients

6 slices lean smoky bacon 6 6slices sliceslean smoky bacon
2 apples 2 2appleapples
1 pkg (10 oz/284 g) fresh baby spinach 1 1pkg pkg(10 oz/284 g) fresh baby spinach
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese 1/4 1/4cup cupcrumbled blue cheese
Spiced Walnuts
1 egg white 1 1egg whiteegg whites
1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 1/4cup cuppacked brown sugar
1 tsp ground allspice 1 1tsp tspground allspice
1 tsp hot pepper sauce 1 1tsp tsphot pepper sauce
1/4 tsp salt 1/4 1/4tsp tspsalt
1-1/2 cups walnut halves 1-1/2 1-1/2cups cupswalnut halfwalnut halves
Vinaigrette
1/2 cup 10% cream 1/2 1/2cup cup10% cream
1/4 cup packed blue cheese 1/4 1/4cup cuppacked blue cheese
2 tbsp white wine vinegar 2 2tbsp tbspwhite wine vinegar
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 2 2tbsp tbspextra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp liquid honey 1 1tbsp tbspliquid honey
1/4 tsp salt 1/4 1/4tsp tspsalt
1/4 tsp pepper 1/4 1/4tsp tsppepper

Preparation

Spiced Walnuts: In bowl, beat egg white until soft peaks form. Whisk in sugar, allspice, hot pepper sauce and salt. Add nuts; toss to coat evenly.

Spread evenly on parchment paper-lined or greased rimmed baking sheet. Bake in 325°F (160°C) oven, stirring and separating twice, until butterscotch brown and crisp, about 45 minutes. Let cool; break into pieces, if desired. (Make-ahead: Store in loosely covered container for up to 2 days.)

Vinaigrette: In food processor or blender, whirl together cream, blue cheese, vinegar, oil, honey, salt and pepper until smooth. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate in airtight container for up to 2 days; rewhisk before using.)

Cut bacon crosswise into 1/2-inch (1 cm) strips. Fry in skillet over medium heat until crisp; drain and pat dry on paper towels. Core and dice 1 of the apples; core and thinly slice second apple.

In large bowl, toss together spinach, diced apple, bacon, 1 cup (250 mL) of the walnuts and vinaigrette. In same bowl or on salad plates, garnish with apple slices, remaining walnuts and crumbled cheese.

Source : Canadian Living Magazine: April 2003