Use spinach as a colorful and nutritious base to your mandarin and spinach salad.
In the world of health and nutrition, spinach always beats iceberg lettuce. Spinach is an excellent source of fiber, vitamin A and iron. Even better than a spinach-based salad, is pairing a spinach-based salad with foods high in vitamin C, like mandarin oranges. Including mandarin oranges with plant-source iron, like spinach, increases your body's absorption of the mineral, helping you get the most nutrition out of your meal.
Instructions
1. Pour 1/3 cup of Italian dressing in the bottom of the bowl before adding any vegetables. A small pool of dressing at the bottom of a large salad bowl makes evenly coating the ingredients easier.
2. Combine 3 cups of washed spinach, 1 cup of washed cherry tomatoes and 1 cup of mandarin orange segments in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle 1/8 cup of sliced dry-roasted almonds on top.
3. Add the remainder of the salad contents on top of the first pile. Staggering the ingredients in two groups prevents all the heavy items from clumping together.
4. Drizzle the remaining Italian salad dressing on top of the second group of almonds. Mix ingredients thoroughly using tongs or leave the salad in two large layers and allow guests to add additional dressing if they like.
Tags: dressing bottom, mandarin oranges, spinach-based salad