HEALTHY Goat Cheese + Caramelized Pecan Salad with a Raspberry Vinaigrette

One of my favorite, simple, healthy go-to meals is always salad. I LOVE a nice, filling, nutritious bowl of greens, especially when you can load it with really whatever you want. I have a few of my favorite salad staples, but since it’s summer and hot AF in NY, I’ve been making a sweeter salad style in my weekly dinner rotation.

There are a few things to me that make this salad really stand out, and I think two of them are the homemade caramelized pecans, and this godly raspberry vinaigrette I found in my Vitamix cookbook. It’s also always fun to load up salad with a perfect combo that you look forward to eating, and I think with this recipe I’ve accomplished just that (especially since my boyfriend routinely BEGS me to make this salad… hence the name of the blog post. But seriously….. a dude asking for a salad over any other meal is def a sign of perfect execution).

Raspberry Vinaigrette (via Vitamix cookbook – thanks Vitamix!)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (or raspberry vinegar – but I use apple cider)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 c (60 g) fresh raspberries
• 1/4 c water
• 2 tbs honey

Instructions

Throw everything in your Vitamix and slowly increase the speed up to medium-high, and blend for about 30-40 seconds (I blend for a bit longer to make sure everything is nice and chopped up :)).

Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to two weeks!!

Salad Recipe

Serves 1. 10 minutes to make. Can easily be adapted to be vegan – just omit the goat cheese and hardboiled egg!

Ingredients

• 2-3 tbs of raspberry vinaigrette
• A couple handfuls of spinach
• 1 Shredded carrot
• Three small strawberries
• Goat cheese (crumbled – about 1/4 c, or more!)
• 1/2 half avocado
• Caramelized pecans (however many you want…)
• Cilantro (about 1/4 c)
• Balsamic glaze (optional)
• Hard boiled egg

Instructions

1. Place vinaigrette around the edges of a medium-sized bowl, so that it’s evenly spread along the sides of the bowl.
2. Place spinach in the bowl first, then everything else except the hard boiled egg.
3. Use tongs to toss the salad and get the dressing evenly coated.
4. Transfer the salad from the bowl to your serving dish.
5. Garnish with optional drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette on top.
6. Cut a hard boiled egg in half lengthwise and place atop the salad. Add salt and pepper to egg to taste.
7. Enjoy!!!