Website Wednesday: Spinach and Pear Salad with Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette

I don’t do diets.

It’s just not my thing.

I believe everything in moderation, portion control, and living an active lifestyle.

With that said, I know there are many people out there who do diet for whatever reason. For health reasons, to lose weight for bikini season, or because they have allergies. If you are one of these dietin’ folks, for whatever reason, you probably scrutinize food labels, and carefully count points. Which can be good but sometimes I would rather not know this information, to enjoy an occasional splurge guilt free.

And while I am not dieting, I had heard rave reviews of the “healthy eating recipe site” Spark Recipes. Out of curiosity and because everyone could always eat just a little bit healthier, I decided to feature this site as the website of the month.

Initially I found the site useful and appreciated the fact that one of its prized features is the nutritional data found on each recipe and the fact that you could plug in your own recipe ingredients and get the nutritional data. But for every recipe I have done this for the information seems WAY off (a huge pet peeve of mine).

I understand that this type of data can differentiate depending on the brand you use, but when I am only adding one extra ingredient or just substituting one tablespoon of something it shouldn’t be almost double the original nutritional data.

Even though I have not believed that the nutritional data represented on this site is 100% accurate I have still shared it on these recipes since this is a key feature of this site (but this is not something I will be doing on all recipes, because of my reasons above). So this is my disclaimer, the nutritional data listed below is calculated on Spark Recipes, using their software program. But what do I know, I am not a nutritionist, I don’t count calories, I just make good food! So take that as you will.

But in the meantime take this: This simple salad is another one to add to your salad collection. The dressing uses simple pantry ingredients and while the salad itself is pretty basic it is perfect to accompany a more heavy meal like steak and potatoes, or could be eaten by itself for a light lunch or dinner.

One Year Ago: Creamy
Fruit Salad
Two Years Ago: Lemon
Cream Squares
Three Years
Ago:
Tomato Bruschetta
Chicken

Spinach and Pear Salad with Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette

Printable Version

Prep Time: 15 minutes Serves: 4

1 tablespoon water

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 pears, cored and sliced lengthwise

1 (10 ounce) bag fresh spinach

½ cup dried cranberries

½ cup pecans

In a small bowl, whisk together the water, vinegar, olive oil, honey, Dijon mustard, and black pepper.

In large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients to form salad. Add the vinaigrette and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information (calculated on Spark Recipes): Serving size: 1 ½ cups Calories: 308.2 Fat: 18.4g Carb: 37.8g Sodium 147mg Fiber: 6.4g Protein: 3.8g Sugar: 15.5g Weight Watchers Point Plus: 9 points

Adapted from Spark Recipes