Balsamic-Salmon Spinach Salad

Maine is known for plenty of seafood since it is on the coast. While on vacation in Maine, we had lunch at a seafood restaurant. One of the items on the menu was the Salmon Salad. We thought it would be healthy and very tasty. One of the downfalls of going on vacation is the unwanted weight gain since there are so many items available and most people don’t take into account the calories or portion sizes of the meals served in restaurants. Therefore we always choose one of the meals a day to be healthy with fewer calories. The salad item was perfect. It had healthy ingredients and also tasted very good. I asked the waitress how the dressing was made. Restaurants are not too keen on giving their recipes away to the customers. She just named a couple of the items which I wrote down. When I went home I played around with the ingredients that the waitress gave me at the restaurant. I was able to come up with a Salmon salad with the dressing that was very close to the salad I had on vacation. I have made it many times for company and the recipe is always requested.

Ingredients

1 Salmon fillet (6 ounces)

2 Tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette, divided

3 cups fresh baby spinach

1/4 cup cubed avocado

1 Tablespoon chopped walnuts, toasted

1 Tablespoon sunflower kernels, toasted

1 Tablespoon dried cranberries

Directions

1. Place oven or toaster oven on broiler setting.

2. With 1 Tablespoon of Balsamic vinaigrette, drizzle the salmon. Place on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 3-4 inches from the heat for 10-15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Cut the salmon into 2 pieces.

3. While salmon is cooking, in a large bowl, toss spinach with remaining vinaigrette. Divide between 2 dinner plates. Top with salmon, avocado, walnuts, sunflower kernels, and cranberries.