1teaspoonmaple syrupor add more to taste, can be substituted with honey or sugar
1/4teaspoonsaltor to taste
1/4teaspoonblack pepperor to taste
Salad
10ozbaby spinach
2cupsstrawberriesstem removed and quartered, around 325 grams
1mediumred onionthinly sliced
1/4cupsliced almondstoasted, can add 1/3 cup as per taste
1/4cupcranberries
3ozgoat cheese adjust to taste
Instructions
Strawberry vinaigrette
Chop the stem of 1 cup of strawberries (150-160 grams) and then transfer them to a blender along with rest of the ingredients- 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon maple syrup, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. If the strawberries aren't sweet enough, you can add more of the maple syrup. You can even add sugar if you like.Blend until everything is well combined. Set this aside. This will make around 1 cup of vinaigrette.
Salad
To make the salad, add 10 oz baby spinach leaves to a big bowl. Add 4 to 5 tablespoons of the prepared vinaigrette. You may add more or less but you don't want too much of the dressing (serve more on the side) but enough to make the leaves moist.
Mix well using a spoon and fork. Then add the 2 cups chopped strawberries, sliced onions, 1/4 cup sliced almonds and 1/4 cup cranberries. Mix until everything is well combined and all components of the salad are coated with the dressing.
Top with 3 oz of fresh goat cheese and serve the salad with more of the strawberry vinaigrette on the side.
Notes
You can use a mix of spinach and arugula here. You can use any mix of green here, I often use bag of "spring mix" that I get from Trader Joe's.
This spinach strawberry vinaigrette isn't very sweet but you can always make it sweeter by adding more maple syrup. You can also add 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar to make this sweeter.
Do not add too much of the dressing, everything would be moist but not drenched with the dressing. Serve extra dressing on the side so that one can use as much dressing as they like while eating the salad.
You can increase the amount of goat cheese if you prefer.