Spring spinach salad with brie, apple and chicken

Spring is in the air! Don’t you just love it when the days get longer, the temperature rises and it’s actually nice to be outside again?

Really, I don’t like winter. It’s cold and even worse, there’s snow. So when Spring hits I get excited, go outside more often and, for some reason, I start to crave salads. Instead of a hearty, warm meal I suddenly want to eat light, cold or lukewarm salads that particularly shout Spring!

When I saw the recipe for this salad I knew I wanted to make something like it but not exactly what I found online. First off, I wanted chicken in my salad so I took the liberty to add chicken. Secondly, I don’t have a broiler so I turned creative and found some other way to make a normal, boring apple a lot more special then it usually is.

In the end, I’m glad I made it the way I wanted to because the salad was absolutely delicious! I even ate it two nights in a row and my family loved it just as much as I did. An empty salad bowl was proof for that. The sweetness of the apple goes wonderful with the chicken, creamy brie and slightly tough spinach. It’s a great combination and definitely a Spring-dish to me!

Spring spinach salad with brie, apple and chicken
Inspiration from: Tase of Home
Yields: 3 person main-course salad

Ingredients for the salad

• 200 gram spinach, cleaned
• 180 gram brie, cut into small pieces
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 ½ apple, diced
• 1 ½ tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 litre vegetable stock

Ingredients for the dressing

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Directions

1. Boil the chicken in the vegetable stock for about 15 minutes until it’s cooked. Drain the chicken and cut it into small pieces.
2. Coat the diced apple with the maple syrup and heat them in a pan until the apple has soaked up all the syrup.
3. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing.
4. Combine the spinach, brie, chicken and apple in a large salad bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until combined.

Tips:
• Instead of using brie, this salad would also taste great with a “heavier” cheese such as Gorgonzola

~ Enjoy!