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!

Spinach and coconut soup with shrimp

Since I live with my parents I (almost) never have to worry about what to eat in weekends. True, I cook two to three times a week on working days but on Sundays I generally don’t cook because mom doesn’t have to work. But there’s some Sundays when mom and dad aren’t at home and I’m left to my own devices. With an empty ‘fridge.

Today was such a day and I felt like making a nice soup for myself. But, since it’s Sunday and the shops are closed (unless you want to actually travel for it) I had make-do with our storage-closet and freezer. I found a recipe for a spinach and coconut soup in one of my mom’s cookbooks (500 soups). Of course, I never follow a recipe as I find it in a book so I decided to add the shrimp I found and leave out some of the other ingredients.

What came out was a rich soup that’s both creamy and spicy and let’s all the flavors come to their right, or so I think. I hope you enjoy it!

This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 ½ teaspoon chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon ginger powder
• 2 ½ cup vegetable stock
• 2 ½ cup coconut milk
• 500 gram frozen spinach
• 175 gram shrimp (either fresh or frozen)

Recipe


• Heat the oil in a large sauce pan and add the onion, garlic and chili flakes. Cook on a low heat for about 4 minutes.

• Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric and ginger and stir.

• Add the vegetable stock and coconut milk and on a medium heat bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

• Meanwhile, defrost the spinach (I use the microwave for that) and after 10 minutes of simmering add the spinach to the soup. Stir and then let the soup simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes.

• Add the shrimp (defrost the shrimp first if you use frozen ones) and stir.

• Season with salt and pepper if needed.

~ Enjoy!