Baby Spinach Salad with Candied Hazelnuts

Nut oils add a distinct flavor to vinaigrettes. Try this salad with other oil and nut varieties, such as walnuts or almonds.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1/4  cup  chopped hazelnuts
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  light brown sugar
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  egg white
• 1/8  teaspoon  salt
• Cooking spray
• 2  teaspoons  fresh orange juice
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  toasted hazelnut oil
• 1/2  teaspoon  Dijon mustard
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  (7-ounce) package fresh baby spinach (about 8 cups)
• 1  cup  orange sections (about 4 oranges)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine the first 4 ingredients, tossing well to coat. Place hazelnut mixture on a nonstick baking sheet coated with cooking spray; bake at 350° for 6 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; cool.

Combine juice and next 4 ingredients (juice through pepper), stirring well with a whisk. Place the spinach in a large bowl; drizzle with juice mixture. Toss gently to coat. Place about 1 3/4 cups salad mixture on each of 4 plates; top with 1/4 cup orange sections and 1 tablespoon hazelnut mixture.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

117 (49% from fat)

Fat:

6.4g (sat 0.5g,mono 4.7g,poly 0.9g)

Protein:

3.5g

Carbohydrate:

14.1g

Fiber:

3.4g

Cholesterol:

0.0mg

Iron:

2.2mg

Sodium:

286mg

Calcium:

92mg