$40 Salad Recipe

Have you heard the story about the mother and daughter who ate lunch at Neiman's one day? You know the story, where the daughter loved the cookies so much, and the waitress told the mother that she could purchase the recipe for $2.50. And then the mother discovered after the fact that she had been charged $250 for the cookie recipe. So, in order to "get back" at Neiman's, she was giving away the recipe for free to as many people as she could. I've made those cookies, and let me tell you, they're not that great. I'm not sure the recipe is even worth $2.50...

Well, not that long ago I ate a salad at a restaurant called Buca di Beppo. It's an Italian restaurant where everyone at your table dines family style. My friends and I shared a warm spinach salad, but when I got the bill at the end of the meal, I was shocked to see that the salad cost $17.99. Regardless of the price though, it really was a good salad. So, a couple of weeks ago when I was asked to bring a vegetable dish to my Mothers of Preschoolers brunch meeting, this salad immediately came to mind. The cost of the salad never even crossed my mind, unfortunately. I went to the restaurant's website, and found the salad...

"Baby spinach tossed with a warm balsamic vinaigrette, red onions, tomatoes, spiced pecans and goat cheese."

Yummy in my tummy! I sent Hector (poor guy) to the store to get the ingredients. And since there are 80 women in my group, I doubled everything on the list. When Hector came home from the store he told me that he hoped the women in my group would like the salad, because the ingredients cost $40. Oh my! I thanked him profusely (especially when I realized that I could have bought the salad from the restaurant and spent less money) and brought my $40 salad to my meeting the next day. Well the women did enjoy it, and I received so many compliments it wasn't even funny. After my meeting I went to grab my salad bowl, and it was completely empty. It looked like someone had taken their index finger and ran it along the inside of the bowl. :-) There wasn't a single speck leftover. And when several of my friends emailed me after the meeting asking for the recipe, I forwarded their emails to Hector at work, and I made sure to state, "You see, the women did love the salad!" :-)

There's really not a recipe though. I just went to the website, read the description, and made it. It seems quite simplistic, but it's the combination of flavors combined with the warm dressing poured over the goat cheese that makes this salad simply divine. But since so many ladies asked for it, I thought I could at least come up with my own recipe, explaining everything that I put into the $40 salad. By the way, you can cut this in half to make the much more affordable, $20 salad version!

In a large salad bowl combine 2 large bags of fresh baby spinach leaves, 2 pints of grape tomatoes, 1 medium red onion (cut into julienned strips), 2 cans of spiced pecan halves, and 2 containers of crumbled goat cheese. In a small saucepan combine equal parts of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (about 1/2 cup of each), with 1 - 2 cloves fresh minced garlic, and 1 tablespoon Italian herbs. Warm it over a medium-high heat, stirring continuously. You can also use store bought balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing if you do not want to make your own dressing. Pour a little of the warm dressing over the top of the salad, and lightly toss. You more than likely will not need to use all of the dressing. So, pour a little bit at a time on the salad, toss, and then add more if needed. You can always add more, but you can't take it off once it's on the salad. :-)

And let me just tell you something about this recipe... When the warm dressing mixes with the spinach and wilts it ever-so-slightly, and the goat cheese begins to melt and gets all ooey-gooey, it really is worth the cost!

Bon appétit!