Layered Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

Friday, October 9, 2009

Once a month all of us DC area family meet together (all 25 of us ) for a meal. Since my two sisters-in-law are way better cooks than I am, it keeps me challenged finding something "worthy" to share with these culinary whizes! This salad was a beauty to look at with its rich colorful layers and was good and hearty too. Next time I make it, I'll make a creamy dressing in addition to the vinaigrette since the kids tend to prefer the creamy ones (and me too).



The ingredients:

SALAD:
1 bag spinach
1 bunch red leaf lettuce
3/4 lb. Swiss cheese, grated
1 pkg. mushrooms
1 cup cottage cheese
2 tomatoes, diced
1 lb. bacon, cooked and chopped

DRESSING (this makes enough for 2 salads):

3/4 cup white vinegar
1-1/2 Tbs. minced onion
1-1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups oil
1-1/2 Tbs. poppy seeds

For dressing, combine all ingredients and mix together in blender. Chill for at least one hour before serving.



For salad, finely chop spinach and red leaf lettuce and combine as the first layer of the salad in a clear trifle bowl (or other glass bowl). Add the chopped tomatoes as the next layer, then the sliced mushrooms, shredded cheese, then crumbled bacon on top. At this point, salad can be covered and refrigerated before serving. Just before serving mound the cottage cheese to the center of the top layer of the salad.

You can pour the dressing on individual servings (which is how I prefer it since I'm not really a big vinaigrette fan) or you can pour it over the salad (after everyone's had sufficient time to admire its beauty) and then mix it all together.

Enjoy!




7 comments:

Arlene Delloro October 9, 2009 at 10:39 AM  

A beautiful dish to look at and one, I'm sure, filled with good taste. The cottage cheese is an interesting addition.

Kim October 9, 2009 at 12:36 PM  

I like the sounds of this recipe, different than the traditional layered salad. Sounds delicious.

teresa October 9, 2009 at 3:46 PM  

i'm definitely admiring it's beauty, this looks like the kind of salad i could eat all day!

Katy ~ October 9, 2009 at 8:26 PM  

This salad is really eye fetching, a centerpiece. And with all that fresh goodness going on, a real good addition to the meal.

Anonymous,  October 10, 2009 at 12:26 AM  

I've never had a layered spinach salad, it looks delicious!

Mirien October 11, 2009 at 2:46 AM  

That looks so good! I have a salad recipe that has those same ingredients, except you marinate the mushrooms in the dressing for a few hours and then mix everything together. It's my husband's favorite salad, but to me the dressing is a little too strong and sweet. I love your idea of layering the salad and trying a creamy dressing. I'm definitely going to make it this way from now on!

MaRiN October 13, 2009 at 11:08 PM  

What a fabulous looking salad! I'm giving this one a try....great presentation!

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About This Blog

My name is Lara and while I'm definitely not a gourmet cook, I do love preparing tasty, healthy meals for my family. Finding new recipes to try and sharing the ones we've already fallen in love with is a passion I've had since college and the reason why I've started this blog! With five kids, I'm usually in a hurry, so you'll find most of these recipes kid friendly and simple to make.

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