Okay, so this is my first recipe post and I don’t want you
all to go “Wow, a salad- how original for a vegan- yawn” but really this is an
amazing salad and it was by request. After our trip out of town this past
weekend Paul‘s stomach was really off and he was in need of a large dose of
dark leafy greens and he’s not too into a giant bowl of kale so I came up with
this!
I am going to apologize now for the bad photos, at this point I am using my phone to take them and the lighting and my phone camera isn't the greatest!! Sorry!!
I plated this salad individually and it made two huge meal
size portions and two smaller ones for the boys. You could plate this as four
hearty portions for sure! The dressing is served warm, it’s sweet, savory and
thick, more of a reduction so the flavor is potent and it is easiest to drizzle
it over top already plated than make a giant family style bowl full.
First off I made the Maple Sugared Almonds. They are so easy
to make and literally take 5 minutes. Place the almonds into a non-stick frying
pan over medium low heat. Add the maple syrup and stir frequently. The maple
syrup will thicken and the almonds will begin to stick together and then after
another minute the syrup will start to crystalize and become opaque and when
the almonds look like they are coated in sugar they are done. Remove and set
aside on parchment paper to cool.
Second is to cut a large onion and caramelize it over low
heat in 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and a dash of sea salt. You want
the onion to cook down, turn a golden brown colour and taste sweet. It takes
about 15 minutes of cooking to get to this stage.
Meanwhile you can wash all your spinach, mushrooms and grape
tomatoes. Finely chop the red onion and peel and chop an avocado. I don’t
usually use white mushrooms but I really like the flavor of them raw in this
salad. I plated the spinach and sliced about two large mushrooms for each
plate, sprinkled a teaspoon or two of the red onion over top, though I didn’t
do this for the boys’ salad. I placed a handful of grape tomatoes on each plate
and a quarter of the avocado. Now we can go back and finish the warm dressing.
To the caramelized onions, still over low heat, I added the balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard,
apple juice and agave and reduced it down till thick, about 5 minutes.
Drizzle the reduction over the plated salads
and top with maple almonds. Enjoy!!
Recipe:
Spinach Avocado Salad with Warm Caramelized Onion Balsamic Reduction
and Maple Sugared Almonds (Vegan, gluten-free, soy-free)
Makes 4 large servings
·
Large bunch of spinach
·
8-10 large mushrooms, sliced
·
3 Tbsp. finely chopped red onion
·
½ cup grape tomatoes
·
1 large avocado, peeled and chopped
·
Caramelized Onion and balsamic reduction- recipe
follows
·
½ cup of Maple Sugared Almonds- recipe follows
Wash spinach and divide among four plates. Wash and chop mushrooms,
onions, tomatoes and finely avocado and arrange
on top of spinach. Drizzle each plate
with a quarter of the warm caramelized onion and balsamic reduction and top
with 2 Tbsps. Maple sugared almonds. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Maple Sugared Almonds:
·
½ cup heaping raw Almonds
·
2 Tbsp. Maple Syrup
Place almonds and maple syrup in non-stick frying pan over
medium low heat, stiring frequently cook until the maple syrup becomes thick
and then begins to turn opaque and almonds become coated in crystallized syrup
and no longer stick to each other, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and let
cool on parchment paper until ready to use.
Warm Caramelized Onion and Balsamic Reduction:
·
1 Large onion chopped medium
·
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
·
5 Tbsp. Apple Juice
·
3 Tbsp. Good Quality Balsamic Vinegar
·
1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
Sauté the onion in olive oil over medium to low heat. Stir frequently and cook until almost all the
onions have browned and are caramelized and sweet. This will take approximately
15 minutes. Once onions have caramelized, add in the rest of the ingredients and
stir until mixture thickens and is reduced by about a third. Remove from heat
and use immediately.
