Classic Sicilian flavors on a bed of fresh spinach, drizzled with fresh basil vinaigrette. This sun dried tomato spinach salad is a deliciously flavorful combination that makes the perfect addition to any meal!
Back in college, before the low carb craze, I developed an entire relationship over baskets and baskets of bread. Let me explain. Sometime early sophomore year, I met my college best friend, Erin. And she quickly became my partner in crime… at an Italian restaurant called Louise’s!
We would ride the city bus from Marquette’s campus to Louise’s, where we would sit for hours, enjoying baskets and baskets of bread and talking about life and love interests and friendship and the future.
And it was there that I first fell in love with this salad. A simple combination of spinach, goat cheese, pine nuts, and sun dried tomatoes, this salad has it ALL. It’s crunchy and creamy and perfectly savory… and makes an amazing addition to any meal!
It’s completely delicious all on its own OR with any of your favorite proteins. From chicken to shrimp to salmon to chickpeas… the flavors in this salad would pair well with so many different additions.
what you’ll need for this recipe
Spinach – One small container (mine was 5 ounces) fresh baby spinach. Substitute spring mix or a 50/50 mix if you prefer.
Goat cheese – 4 ounces goat cheese. I used a goat cheese log for extra creamy flavor and texture, but feel free to use pre-crumbled goat cheese. You can also substitute shaved Parmesan, feta, or any of your favorites.
Sun dried tomatoes – Sun dried tomatoes add so much delicious flavor and a nice chewy texture to this salad. I used julienne cut sun dried tomatoes in olive oil.
Pine nuts – Pine nuts are the perfect lightly crunchy, flavorful addition to this salad. Substitute walnuts, cashews, or pistachios.
Vinaigrette – Homemade basil vinaigrette is easy to make and adds a deliciously fresh herbal flavor to this salad. Use any type of vinaigrette OR drizzle the oil from the sun dried tomatoes and add salt & pepper!
how to make this sicilian spinach salad
This salad literally couldn’t be easier to make:
- Add the spinach to a salad bowl
- Top with goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts
- Drizzle with vinaigrette
add a protein!
This salad is the perfect base for any of your favorite proteins, from Pan Fried Chicken to Baked Salmon to Blackened Shrimp. It would also be delicious topped with my Mini Crab Cakes, Garlic Butter Steak Bites or Garlic Butter Baked Tilapia!
Recipe Variations
- Substitute spring mix, arugula or any other greens
- Add additional veggies, such as mushrooms, onions, or bell peppers
- Substitute walnuts, pecans or pistachios for the pine nuts
- Substitute crumbled feta or shaved Parmesan for the goat cheese
- Use any type of homemade or store bought vinaigrette
- Add drained chickpeas or white beans
- Reserve the sun dried tomato oil to use as a dressing, along with salt & pepper
- Add homemade croutons or parmesan crisps
- Add any of your favorite proteins (check our my favorites above!)
More Recipes Using Sun Dried Tomatoes
Looking for more delicious ways to use sun dried tomatoes? These are some of our favorites!
Sicilian Spinach Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 5 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 4 ounces goat cheese crumbled
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
Basil Vinaigrette
- 1/2 cup olive oil extra virgin
- 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar OR white wine vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons fresh basil minced, packed
- 1 Tablespoon red onion minced
- 1-2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- In a large salad bowl, combine spinach, goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes, and pine nuts.
- In a small jar, combine the vinaigrette ingredients. Shake vigorously until well blended.
- Drizzle vinaigrette over salad to taste.
Notes
Recipe Variations
- Substitute spring mix, arugula or any other greens
- Add additional veggies, such as mushrooms, onions, or bell peppers
- Substitute walnuts, pecans or pistachios for the pine nuts
- Substitute crumbled feta or shaved Parmesan for the goat cheese
- Use any type of homemade or store bought vinaigrette
- Add drained chickpeas or white beans
- Reserve the sun dried tomato oil to use as a dressing, along with salt & pepper
- Add homemade croutons or parmesan crisps
- Add any of your favorite proteins (check our my favorites above!)
Nutrition
Oh my goodness that salad sounds spectacular! I love creative salads like this, great job!
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
Yummy! I love salad in any form. This one looks delish!
So yummy in my tummy! Stopping by from Nifty Thrifty Sunday
I’m loving all these salad posts lately – perfect for my “state”! Love basil so this will be added to next week’s meal plan…I may substitute feta for goat cheese (my hubby isn’t a fan). But I think it will be yummy! Thanks, as alway Cathy!
This looks delicious, Cathy! Stumbled and pinned 🙂
Yum! Yum! Yum!
I can’t wait to try that … it looks so delicious!
I think you need to do a thirty days of salads series! You’re so creative (and it would force me to eat salad for a month) How ’bout it? 😉
Thanks for sharing!
Kate
This looks awesome!!! We would love it if you would link up at our linky party:
http://www.lifewiththecrustcutoff.com/two-girls-and-a-party-linky-party-21/
Live every Wednesday to Sunday.
Hosted by:
http://www.lifewiththecrustcutoff.com/ Parrish @ Life with the Crust Cut Off
http://thissillygirlslife.com/ Dana @ This Silly Girl’s Life
We hope to see you there!
I am always ready for a new summer salad and this looks so yummy…..I am part Sicilian too! Visiting from Marvelous Mondays and following you via Bloglovin!
Delicious as always!!!
Cathy, this looks amazing!! There’s nothing better than good conversation over a (couple) bread baskets! I can’t wait to try this salad, YUM!
~Jen @ Yummy Healthy Easy
This entry was so well-written… and has me craving foccacia! Haha.
The salad sounds tasty, and that vinaigrette would work on a lot of salads, I bet! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
This looks amazing!! Just pinned it too!! Sharing on FB next! 😉
Thanks for linking up at Monday Funday!
Hope your weekend is extraordinary!
I wanted to let you know that this recipe has been featured on Krafty Cards etc’s Recipe Round-up #3 ~ Italian Style. You can view the full post here: http://kraftycardsetc.blogspot.com/2013/06/recipe-round-up-3-italian-style.html.
Have a great week!
Maria
This looks sooo yummy! Pinned it to try it soon.
KC
This salad looks awesome! I love the flavors – pinning right now. 🙂 Found this post at Krafty Card’s Recipe Roundup and had to jump over to check it out. It would be great if you could share this post at Tasty Tuesdays this week – http://www.hungryharps.com/2013/06/tasty-tuesdays-16-and-dozen-delicious.html Have a good one!
Hey there this is somewhat of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs
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I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding experience so
I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be
enormously appreciated!
This looks great! I recently fell in love with sundried tomatoes and you can’t go wrong with goat cheese. I’ve been trying to come up with some original salad ideas for the summer. You can get so creative with salad and it’s a great low-carb meal
I am so glad I found your recipe! When I was traveling to visit my daughter, I knew she liked spinach and wanted to find something different to make for her and the family and, wow, this is it!
This is the best spinach salad I have ever made and my daughter and her family now make it routinely too. Thank you much for sharing this delicious recipe with your Internet family.