spinach salad with hazelnuts and rosemary-balsamic vinaigrette

Here’s an easy salad with really bright, pungent flavors that will inspire you to eat lots of greens! It’s based on a recipe from rebar modern food, one of my favorite cookbooks for salads. You don’t have to use spinach for this salad—lettuce or baby greens work great, too!

This salad tastes fantastic with toast made from our walnut bread or our toasted seed bread. Or you can follow the rosemary theme and use our rosemary bread! Or you can just use regular 100% whole wheat sourdough levain. Whichever bread you decide on, you can use it to sop up extra dressing. I think the salad is plenty delicious without the blue cheese, but it is a very nice addition. I love this salad with the lentil soup, or the tomato soup, or almost any soup, really.

vinaigrette

2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
½ teaspoon cracked pepper
2-4 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, picked off their stems
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1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Put all the ingredients except the oil in the jar of a blender. Whirl everything until it is completely smooth—this might take a little while because of the rosemary. Slowly pour in the oil as the motor is running to make a smooth sauce. Adjust salt and honey to taste.

salad

10 ounces spinach leaves, or a large head of lettuce, or a bowlful of mixed baby greens
½ small red onion, cut in half and sliced very thinly
¼-½ cup hazelnuts
½ cup blue cheese (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roast the hazelnuts until golden-brown and fragrant, about 15 minutes. After the nuts are toasted, you can rub off some of the loose skins in a kitchen towel if you want, but they won’t come completely clean—that’s OK. Chop the hazelnuts coarsely.
2. Put the sliced onions in a bowl and cover them with boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain them and set aside.
3. Just before serving, place the greens and onion in a large salad bowl. If your spinach is mature and rather toothsome, serve this salad as a wilted spinach salad: gently heat the vinaigrette in a small skillet until it starts to simmer, and drizzle as much as you’d like over the salad. Toss well. If you’re using tender young spinach, or other salad greens, just drizzle the dressing on cold and toss well.
4. Sprinkle with nuts and cheese (if using), and serve with toast.