Jamie Oliver’s Spinach Salad
My husband discovered this salad years ago when he was making me dinner. I was skeptical at first because the dinners he’d made for me before this time were…let’s just say, not what I would make. 🙂 The first bite of this salad and I was so pleasantly surprised! It’s sweet, but surprisingly, not too sweet. The almonds give it a really nice and needed crunch. We’ve since made this for my family and it has become an all-around favourite salad to make!
This salad is more of a ‘summer salad’, but as it’s one of my mom’s faves, I’ve made it several times already since I’ve been home taking care of her.
I, typically, serve this salad with barbecued chicken breast, but it can go with pretty much anything. Don’t be intimidated by the amount of sugar in this recipe. I know it’s a lot, but it’s not a salad you’ll have every day, and it’s a salad kids love because of the sweetness. A great way to get them to eat lots of spinach!
Enjoy!
Jamie Oliver's Cranberry Spinach Salad
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3/4 cup almonds blanched and slivered
- 1 pound baby spinach
- 1/2 to 1 cup dried cranberries*
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds toasted
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons onion minced
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup avocado oil**
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook and stir almonds in butter until lightly toasted. Remove from heat, and let cool.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, onion, paprika, white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, and avocado oil.
- In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the toasted almonds and cranberries and toss with the dressing.
Notes
**The original recipe uses vegetable oil, which is fine to use if you can't find avocado oil.
Turkey Sausage and Arugula Pasta
I have been making this dish since I saw Giada making it on her Food Network show a few years ago. She tops this yummy sauce over baked potatoes, but I far prefer it served with pasta. This dish looks really similar to another dish I made, Cheesy Sausage Pasta, but it is very different. I just like to use shells as my pasta of choice. 🙂
There are many things that I like about this dish. It’s a great weeknight meal, because it comes together quickly. The sausage adds so much flavor on it’s own. It’s almost fool proof! You can easily switch out the arugula for spinach, should your local grocery store not carry it. Like I did this time around. I do prefer arugula, though, as it doesn’t go mushy as quickly as spinach. But, my daughter loves both, and that’s enough for me!
In a pinch, you can use pork sausage for this recipe, as it is more readily available, but be sure to drain off the fat. Sweet sausage is also much more kid friendly than the spicy variety. My daughter picked up on the spice in this dish right away when I couldn’t find sweet sausage, and she wasn’t as big a fan. So, I stick to the sweet stuff now.
The arugula or spinach will look like too much when you first add it to your dish. But, it will wilt down really quickly.
See? Mmmmm….this is yummy stuff.
Here’s what you need to do:
Turkey Sausage and Arugula Pasta
Turkey Sausage and Arugula Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium white or yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
- 1 package of sweet turkey sausage about 4 or 5 sausages, casing removed
- 1 jar tomato basil sauce 2 cups
- 3 cups arugula or spinach
- 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 pound pasta your choice of noodle
Instructions
- In a large skillet, sauté the onions in olive oil over medium high heat until translucent. Add minced garlic and salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute, stirring often. Add the turkey sausage and cook until the meat has cooked through. Add in the tomato sauce and arugula. Let the arugula cook into the sauce until it reduces in size. Add in the mascarpone cheese and stir till combined. Remove the skillet from the heat, and stir in the parmesan cheese. Add pasta into the sauce, and finish with more parmesan cheese.
- Enjoy!
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