Peace and Love in the Kitchen

At our house, Thursday night is “pasta and spinach salad night”. The children look forward to it every week. My husband and I eat mostly salad with a little pasta; the children, of course, eat mostly pasta with a little salad on the side.

There are many ways to serve spinach salad. This recipe is one of our favorites and can easily be turned into a meal in itself simply by adding a can of wild salmon or tuna. If you buy your olives pitted, this salad will take you all of 5 minutes to put together. Everything but the olive oil is put into a bowl and tossed. Meanwhile, you heat the oil. Pouring hot olive oil over the spinach leaves wilts them slightly which brings out the flavors, and, supposedly, the vitamins as well.

Serve this salad with grilled seafood, chicken, or lamb. It is wonderful with just about everything.

1 small red onion, sliced very thin

8 cups baby spinach leaves, washed and dried

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

4 oz goat or feta cheese, crumbled

12 kalamatta olives, pitted and chopped

2 Tbsp sherry vinegar

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. In a large bowl, toss all ingredients together except oil and sprinkle with salt

2. In a skillet, heat oil over MEDIUM heat until almost smoking

3. Pour over salad, quickly turning the leaves using tongs

4. Adjust seasonings to taste

5. Serve with toasted slices of buttered French bread