Baby Spinach and an Orange meet Macadamias in a Salad

The idea of this refreshing salad came to me since the heat outside is beginning to get pretty heady. This salad also kept me surprisingly full for a long time and that is no small feat as one of my friends once said, ”You can really put it away, girl!” Now, imagine the face I made at my friend.

I’m like a mad scientist in the kitchen so my ingredients are hardly ever exact, play around with the proportions it’s more fun that way!

Serves: 4

Dressing:

½ of a lemon juiced
4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Big pinch of salt

Big pinch of black pepper

Small drizzle of honey

Salad:

Ten ounce bag of baby spinach

Large orange peeled and slivered

4 tablespoons of toasted Macadamia nuts

4 tablespoons of a crumbled soft cheese like Goat or Feta

Directions:

1) Toast Macadamia nuts in a hot pan over medium heat until just light brown. Set aside to cool, then chop

2) Wisk the dressing together, taste to adjust seasonings

3)  Empty the baby spinach into a bowl

4) Peel and slice the orange into thin slices and add to bowl 

5) Finish with sprinkling on toasted macadamia nuts, cheese and dressing

6) Serve chilled

The benefits to name a few:

Spinach is one of the top heavy weights of the Superfoods list. I want it on my plate for hemoglobin and hair benefitting iron.

Oranges have a lot of vitamin C and help the absorption of iron in spinach. Without vitamin C, most plant forms of iron are very hard for our body to absorb.

Macadamia nuts and Olive oil have high amount of monounsaturated fat. Foods containing monounsaturated fats reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, while possibly increasing high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.

Cheese adds a small amount of protein and fat which helps keep me fuller longer.