Elevate Your Salad Game: The Ultimate Loaded Spinach Salad with Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing

As the chill of winter begins to fade and the promise of warmer days beckons, many of us find our thoughts drifting towards lighter, more vibrant meals. If you’re envisioning swimsuit season and a fresh approach to your diet, salads often take center stage. But who says healthy has to be boring or leave you feeling unsatisfied? Today, we’re diving into a recipe that redefines the salad experience: a spectacular Loaded Spinach Salad with Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing. This isn’t just any salad; it’s a hearty, flavor-packed masterpiece designed to keep you feeling full, energized, and utterly delighted with every forkful.

This incredible salad starts with a generous base of tender baby spinach leaves, transformed into a canvas for a symphony of textures and tastes. Imagine the vibrant crunch of fresh brussels sprouts, the rich, savory notes of thick-cut bacon, and the satisfying protein of hard-boiled eggs. Juicy, ripe tomatoes add a burst of freshness, while the subtle brine of olives and the sharp bite of red onion complete this delightful medley. But the true game-changer, the element that ties all these fantastic ingredients together, is the creamiest, most intensely flavorful homemade roasted garlic dressing you’ll ever encounter. Forget dull, predictable greens – this is a salad that truly earns its “loaded” title.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Paisley Farm, but the opinions are all my own. Thank you for supporting the companies and products that make An Affair from the Heart possible.

For many of us, salads are a dietary staple, especially when aiming for a balanced and nourishing lifestyle. However, I’ll readily admit that routine can lead to boredom. Eating the same few ingredients repeatedly quickly loses its appeal. That’s why variety is crucial for a salad enthusiast! To keep my palate excited and my meals interesting, I constantly seek out diverse toppings, explore different leafy greens, and experiment with innovative, homemade dressings. This approach ensures that every salad is an adventure, a delightful culinary journey rather than a monotonous obligation.

One secret to maintaining excitement in your salad routine lies in incorporating versatile, high-quality ingredients that offer both convenience and exceptional flavor. And when it comes to adding a unique touch, few pantry staples compare to a good quality bean salad. It’s an instant flavor booster and texture enhancer.

The Secret Ingredient: Paisley Farm Four Bean Salad

In my pantry, you’ll always find a couple of jars of Paisley Farm Bean Salad. It’s an absolute game-changer for quick, delicious meals. The convenience is unmatched – simply open a jar, and you have a ready-to-serve side dish, a versatile ingredient to incorporate into recipes, or, as we’re doing today, a fantastic topping for an already amazing salad. Paisley Farm Four Bean Salad is a natural choice for enhancing your culinary creations, offering a delightful blend of textures and a subtly sweet, tangy flavor profile that complements a wide array of dishes.

What makes Paisley Farm Four Bean Salad truly special is its thoughtfully crafted blend of natural ingredients. It features a harmonious mix of kidney, garbanzo, green, and wax beans, each contributing its own unique texture and earthy flavor. This colorful medley is then perfectly accented with freshly diced onions and red peppers, which add a subtle sweetness, a hint of sharpness, and an extra layer of visual appeal. This combination not only tastes incredible but also adds a significant boost of fiber and plant-based protein to your meal, making it both delicious and nutritious. It’s an effortless way to elevate the complexity and satisfaction of your salads without any extra prep work.

Beyond the Salad Bowl: Versatility of Paisley Farm Bean Salads

While it shines as a salad topping, the versatility of Paisley Farm Bean Salad extends far beyond. It’s a true kitchen multitasker, capable of transforming simple meals into something extraordinary. Need inspiration? Here are a few ways I love to use it:

The Crown Jewel: Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing

If you’ve never ventured into making your own homemade salad dressing, now is the time to embrace the experience. I cannot emphasize enough the profound difference it makes. No store-bought bottle, no matter how premium, can truly compare to the fresh, vibrant flavors achieved with just a few simple ingredients and a little extra care in your own kitchen. This philosophy holds especially true for our Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing, where one particular step elevates the flavor profile to extraordinary heights: roasting the garlic.

Roasting garlic transforms its pungent, sharp bite into a mellow, sweet, and deeply aromatic paste. This process caramelizes the natural sugars within the garlic cloves, resulting in a complex flavor that is both rich and comforting. While you *could* make this dressing with raw garlic, trust me when I say that the roasting step is incredibly easy and undeniably worth the minimal extra effort. It adds an unparalleled depth that truly sets this dressing apart, making it the perfect complement to our loaded spinach salad.

Crafting Your Dressing: A Blend of Simplicity and Flavor

The beauty of this Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing is how quickly it comes together once your garlic is roasted. The process begins with that exquisite mashed roasted garlic, which forms the fragrant base. To this, we add a generous portion of Pecorino Romano cheese, introducing a salty, tangy, and intensely savory note that deepens the overall flavor. Freshly squeezed lemon juice brightens the mixture, cutting through the richness with its zesty acidity. A combination of real mayonnaise and heavy cream provides that irresistible creaminess, creating a luxurious texture that coats every leaf of spinach beautifully. A final seasoning of salt and coarsely ground black pepper ensures a perfectly balanced dressing. Simply combine these ingredients, blend until smooth, and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

Learn How to Roast Garlic in the Oven

For those new to roasting garlic, it’s a simple technique that yields incredible results. You typically chop off the top of a garlic head, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil, and bake until cloves are soft and golden. The link above provides a fantastic, detailed guide to mastering this essential culinary skill, which you’ll find yourself using for countless other recipes once you realize its magic.

Assembling Your Perfect Loaded Spinach Salad

Now that we have our incredible dressing and our star ingredient – the Paisley Farm Four Bean Salad – it’s time to bring everything together for the main event. This salad is designed to be a substantial meal, packed with a variety of wholesome and satisfying components. Here’s a detailed look at the ingredients that create this symphony of taste and texture:

The Foundation: We start with a generous bed of fresh baby spinach leaves. Spinach is not only rich in vitamins and minerals but also provides a tender, slightly earthy base that pairs wonderfully with the robust toppings.

The Star Addition: Our featured Paisley Farm Four Bean Salad offers a unique sweet-tangy flavor and a delightful mix of textures from its kidney, garbanzo, green, and wax beans, along with diced onions and red peppers. It’s a convenient protein and fiber boost that adds substantial character.

Savory Crunch: Thick-sliced bacon, cooked until perfectly crisp and then chopped, contributes a smoky, salty, and utterly irresistible crunch. This classic salad component adds a depth of savory flavor that bacon lovers will adore.

Nutrient Powerhouses: Hard-boiled eggs, chopped into bite-sized pieces, provide a creamy texture and a significant protein punch, making the salad more filling and balanced. Crunchy brussels sprouts, lightly sautéed or roasted to bring out their sweetness, add an earthy flavor and another layer of delightful texture. You can also enjoy them raw and finely shaved for a different kind of crunch.

Freshness and Zest: Sliced red onion introduces a sharp, pungent kick that contrasts beautifully with the other ingredients. Juicy, ripe tomatoes (grape or cherry tomatoes sliced in half work wonderfully) offer a burst of fresh, sweet acidity. Finally, sliced black olives add a briny, savory note that complements the richness of the bacon and dressing.

While this combination represents what I’ve found to be salad perfection, feel free to customize it to your heart’s content. Add some grilled chicken for an extra protein boost, swap out brussels sprouts for cucumber, or include some crumbled feta cheese for added tang. The beauty of a loaded salad is its flexibility!

To assemble, simply start by placing two generous handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves onto each dinner plate or into a large salad bowl. Then, artfully arrange half of each of the prepared toppings over the spinach. Drizzle generously with your homemade Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing, tossing gently to ensure every ingredient is coated. For a final flourish, add a nice sprinkling of fresh cracked black pepper – it truly enhances the flavors. Serve immediately and prepare to be amazed!

Have you tried Paisley Farm Four Bean Salad? It’s an all-natural product that’s perfect for any occasion. Whether you’re planning a family picnic, preparing an elegant meal, or simply craving a healthy snack straight from the jar, you can’t go wrong with this versatile salad. Paisley Farm Four Bean Salad stands out with its naturally sweet blend of robust kidney, hearty garbanzo, crisp green, and tender wax beans, all beautifully complemented by freshly diced onions and vibrant red peppers for an explosion of flavor.

Discover More Paisley Farm Recipes Here

Ready to transform your meals and discover the joy of truly satisfying salads? Let’s make some salad!

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Print Recipe

Loaded Spinach Salad with Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing

A bed of baby spinach leaves, topped with Paisley Farm Four Bean Salad, thick bacon, crunchy brussels sprouts, ripe tomatoes, hard boiled egg, olives and red onion all topped with the creamiest homemade roasted garlic dressing.

Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 15 mins

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Loaded Spinach Salad with Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing

Servings: 2 large dinner salads

Calories: 1406kcal

Author: Michaela Kenkel

Ingredients

For the Salad:

• Four handfuls of baby spinach leaves
• 3/4 cup Paisley Farm Four Bean Salad
• 1/2 cup brussels sprouts chopped
• 1/4 cup red onion sliced thin
• 1/2 cup thick cut bacon prepared and chopped
• 1/2 cup hard boiled eggs chopped
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes sliced in half
• 1/2 cup black olives sliced

For the Dressing:

• 1 large head garlic *roasted, mashed with the back of a fork
• 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano Cheese shredded
• 1/2 cup real mayonnaise
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Prepare dressing by combining all of the ingredients in a large wide mouth mason jar. Blend together using a stick blender. Place lid on dressing and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Place two handfuls of spinach leaves on each dinner plate. Top with other ingredients, using half of each for each salad. Top with dressing to your liking, and toss.

Notes

*How to Roast Garlic in the Oven
Dressing keeps in fridge for a week.

Nutrition

Serving: 1
| Calories: 1406kcal
| Carbohydrates: 88g
| Protein: 41g
| Fat: 102g
| Saturated Fat: 27g
| Polyunsaturated Fat: 70g
| Trans Fat: 1g
| Cholesterol: 261mg
| Sodium: 3453mg
| Fiber: 14g
| Sugar: 57g

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