Baby Spinach Salad With Dates and Almonds
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1tablespoon wine vinegar
- ½medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 3½ounces dates (100 grams), preferably Medjool, pitted and quartered lengthwise
- Salt
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter (30 grams)
- 2tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2small pitas (about 3½ ounces, or 100 grams), roughly torn into 1½ -inch pieces
- ½cup whole unsalted almonds (75 grams), coarsely chopped
- 2teaspoons sumac
- ½teaspoon chile flakes
- 5 to 6ounces baby spinach leaves (150 grams)
- 2tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
232 calories; 15 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 13 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 210 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Put vinegar, onion and dates in a small bowl. Add a pinch of salt and mix well with your hands. Leave to marinate for 20 minutes, then drain any residual vinegar and discard.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, heat butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add pita and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, stirring all the time, until pita is golden. Add almonds and continue cooking until pita is crunchy and browned and almonds are toasted and fragrant, about 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and mix in sumac, chile flakes and ¼ teaspoon salt. Set aside to cool.
- Step 3
When ready to serve, toss spinach leaves with pita mix in a large mixing bowl. Add dates and red onion, remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, the lemon juice and another pinch of salt. Taste for seasoning and serve immediately.
Private Notes
Comments
For all who wonder, this is the best foolproof salad EVER! It is the kind of salad you start eating and then can't stop (Can salad really be like that?) I use left over pita from the Persian restaurant we frequent. Even days after, that pita works perfectly. I will say, storage for the pita chip mix is finicky. I stored it once for days, and then once the chips went soft. I think be sure to have an airtight container.
4th of July in Boston, so going to mkt not feasible, but really wanted to test this recipe. So ... needs must — substituted zaatar for sumac [it's mostly sumac anyway] and harissa for chile flakes. The result was total YUM!
This is wonderful, as are so many of the recipes in "Jerusalem." Instead of chopping almonds, I just buy slivered ones. And I don't quite use as much spinach, as I like a higher proportion of the date/onion mix.
Also use white wine vinegar (recipe here doesn't specify which to use, but book says "white"), which is partially seasoned rice vinegar.
Realized too late I was out of baby spinach — but lacinato kale worked great! Just trim off bottom two inches of stems or whatever is too woody, rinse kale and roll it up in paper towels, roll over that a few times with a rolling pin to crush stems slightly, chop into fine ribbons, pour the dressing on it and *let it sit* separate from other ingredients for 10-15 min, then combine with the croutons, dates, and onion. Also— if you wanna slice onions very thinly, use a vegetable peeler on the cut inside half of an onion! Huge timesaver, even thinner than slicing, and very consistent. Buon appetito!
I used the tool to divide the recipe in half and it worked perfectly for 2 side salads. Great combo of flavours. I only had sliced almonds but they worked fine.
I use lemon juice instead of white vinegar with the onions and dates. And at least 8 oz of spinach. It is a salad after all! ☺️