Baby Spinach Salad with Thyme and Dijon Vinaigrette with Crisp Swiss Cheese Crisps

A Rachel Ray recipe.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
  • 1 sack 12 ounces, baby spinach or 3/4 pound from bulk bins
  • 1 small red apple cored and thinly sliced
  • 1 wedge lemon
  • 3 or 4 sprigs fresh thyme stripped from stems and chopped
  • 1 rounded teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar eyeball it
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil eyeball the amount

Instructions

  • Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add shredded Swiss in small, 2-inch piles to the hot skillet. When the cheese fries to a light golden color at the edges, about 1 minute, and can be moved with a thin spatula, turn the cheese rounds, cook another 15 seconds, then remove rounds from the skillet and transfer rounds to a work surface to cool.
  • The cheese crisps will cool within a minute or so. Repeat to form 12 to 16 crisps, 3 or 4 per salad. Crisps may also be flavored with cracked black pepper and chopped thyme or other herbs.
  • Place spinach in a bowl. After slicing your apple, squeeze a wedge of lemon over the slices to keep them from browning. Toss apples with spinach. For dressing, combine thyme, Dijon mustard and vinegar with a whisk. Stream in olive oil while continuing to whisk dressing. Pour dressing over the salad and toss to coat greens and apple evenly. Pile salad onto cheese rounds and serve.

Notes

Difficulty: Easy
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes