The quintessential springtime salad! Can you just imagine this recipe’s tiny sweet strawberries bursting in your mouth? Soft, gently flavorful leaves of spinach, fresh from the ground? With a bit of bite from the onion and some satisfying give from the pecans? Thank you, lowfatveganchef.com, for the original version of this recipe.

• 1 lb. very cold baby spinach
• 2 c. fresh strawberries, sliced if larger than ½ inch in diameter
• 1/2 c. red onion, sliced as thinly as possible
• 1/2 c. raw pecans, chopped coarsely

Dressing:

• 1 c. fresh strawberries
• approx 1/4 c. fresh orange juice (squeezed from 2 very sweet oranges)
• 4 small dates
• 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. chia seeds

1. Wash spinach well, dry leaves, and place in large bowl in refrigerator.

2. Place all dressing ingredients in a blender on high until completely liquefied, and then set aside 5 min. to allow flavors to blend.

3. Remove spinach from refrigerator, toss thoroughly with dressing, and arrange on 2-4 plates (2 plates for dinner salads, 4 plates for starters).

4. Arrange strawberries and pecans over top of spinach, sprinkle artfully with red onion slices, and serve immediately. Actually, don’t worry about being artful…the red onions will automatically arrange themselves. Send your photos and I will post them!

Bon appétit!