Strawberry Spinach Salad

My sister in law, Sarah, is hosting a salad week, where participants are sharing a week's worth of salad recipes.

This first salad is a salad my mom makes for almost every wedding she caters. It is almost ALWAYS requested by brides.

STRAWBERRY SPINACH SALAD

The base of the salad is baby spinach and then a smattering of fresh fruits: (any combination of)sliced strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, halved grapes, mandarin oranges, sliced pears or apples. In the summer, it is always berries, in the winter it is fresh oranges or apples.

On top of the salad is sugared pecans, which my mom does differently than I do. She puts 1 cup of pecans in a teflon pan with 1/2 cup of sugar and cooks on medium heat until the sugar melts and the nuts are coated. Then she pours them on a cookie sheet. I do it a simpler way because I mess up the sugared pecans frequently (can't get right temp for sugar to melt without burning nuts). My way is to put the nuts in the pan heat up the nuts and they are slightly roasted. Then I drizzle honey on them (no worrying about melting sugar) and stir until coated. Pour on cookie sheet to harden. Let completely cool before adding them to salad.

DRESSING:

1/2 c. Girard's fat free raspberry dressing (you could use other brand, this is what we use)

1/4 cup sugar
3/4 t grated onion
3/4 t. salt
1/3 t. dry mustard
1 c. olive or canola oil
2 T red wine vinegar
3 T poppyseeds

Mix very well (blender works great)

Optional items:
red onion (I don't add)
feta (yes!)
craisins (yes again!)

Wait to put the dressing and nuts on until right before you serve it.

**Cheaters tip: If you don't have the time to make the fancy schmancy dressing, use the regular Girard's Raspberry (not fat free) or Brianna's Poppyseed Dressing. Both are delicious.