Starting The New Year With Soups And Salads

Chris and I are feeling a little overfed from the holidays, so we've decided to start the new year with lots of fruits and vegetables. Tonight I started with a basic spinach salad and a super easy to whip up balsamic dressing, simple but really good.

Mandarin Orange and Chicken Spinach Salad




















Dressing:
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
1/2 c. olive oil
1 clove of garlic - minced
pinch of oregano
pinch of salt
pinch of fresh ground pepper
(this makes more than what is needed for the salad, so stick it in the fridge for later)

Find a glass jar, put in all the ingredients, screw on the lid and shake.

Salad:
1 chicken breast
5 oz. baby spinach
1/3 red onion - chopped
1/3 c. slivered almonds
3 oz. canned mandarin orange slices

Put a nice little rub on the chicken, grill it, let it cool a bit then cut it up into little cubes. Wash the spinach and take off the stems. Chop up the onion. Toast the almonds, I did it in a small pan on the stove with some olive oil spray. Toss the ingredients with desired amount of dressing and place on plates then top with the oranges.