Strawberry & Mandarin Orange Spinach Salad

I hope you are all well, especially if you live in the NJ/NY area like me. The weather last night was insane. Tornado warnings, crazy rain and flooding. I went to my parents’ house last night for dinner and to do a light Peloton workout since I’m still easing back into working out. Then, it started pouring really bad (remnants from Hurricane Ida that traveled up here) and we had a tornado warning. Then, the sump pump stopped working and the basement started flooding! But even if the pump was working properly, I don’t think we would have escaped unscathed because many of my friends’ basements flooded. The roads were flooded in my town too. My school already had a remote work day planned for today but I got an email late last night that there’s no work today due to unsafe roads and power outages. We were supposed to have tomorrow off and now our meetings are pushed to tomorrow so I’m hoping it’s quick and then we can enjoy the holiday weekend!

Anyway, today I’m sharing a yummy salad – strawberry & mandarin orange spinach salad with a poppy seed dressing.

I found the recipe via Pinterest two years ago. I mostly follow the recipe but just cut down the ingredients if I’m making it just for myself. I mix the dressing by hand with a whisk instead of with a blender and I use mandarin oranges from the Dole fruit cups.

For this recipe you’ll need:

• spinach
• strawberries
• mandarin oranges
• sliced almonds
• sugar
• apple cider vinegar
• onion
• paprika
• Worcestershire sauce
• oil

Slice your strawberries and prepare (if you’re not using pre-peeled mandarin oranges) your mandarin orange pieces and drain. Top your spinach with the fruit and sliced almonds.

For the dressing whisk/mix together the sugar, apple cider vinegar, poppy seeds, minced onion, paprika, and Worcestershire sauce.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad and voila!

I love how fresh this salad is. It’s been a while since I’ve made it, but I need to soon!