Summer Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese, Pecans & Raspberries

This is a salad for fresh berry season! It’s super simple, but the flavours pack a punch. We’re featuring raspberries here, but it also works great with sliced strawberries and whatever else is available. When it comes to blue cheese, we often use a Danish blue that can be found in most grocery stores—it crumbles well and isn’t too controversial of a flavour. That said, making this with a classic French blue like Saint Agur or Roquefort can take it to a whole other level.

In a large bowl, toss spinach in Simple Balsamic Vinaigrette. Tong out into bowls. Divide the raspberries, blue cheese, and pecans evenly among the servings. Sprinkle with Maldon Salt and black pepper. Do your darndest to get a bite with all the toppings together.

SERVES 2 PEOPLE A LOT OF SALAD OR 4 PEOPLE A SIDE SALAD

 4 cups (1 L) loosely packed baby spinach ¼ cup (60 mL)

Simple Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 cup (250 mL) fresh raspberries

¼ cup (60 mL) crumbled blue cheese

¼ cup (60 mL) pecans, whole or roughly chopped

Maldon Salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Simple Balsamic Vinaigrette
Balsamic can be a pretty aggressive flavour, but it has a time and a place. It always pairs beautifully with berries and blue cheese.
MAKES 11/3 CUPS (325 ML) DRESSING

¼ cup (60 mL) balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp (15 mL) Dijon mustard ¼ tsp (1 mL) sea salt ¼ tsp (1 mL) freshly ground black pepper 1 cup (250 mL) olive oil 1 Combine the balsamic, Dijon, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Add the olive oil in a steady stream while whisking to emulsify. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Excerpted from Heydays at the June Motel: Beach Town Classics, by Freddy Laliberté and Evan Baulch, with Katie Laliberté and Emma Baulch.©2024 Home Phone Holdings Inc and 2745690 Ontario Ltd. Published by House of Anansi Press www.houseofanansi.com

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Learn more about Heydays at the June Motel:

Elevate your summer entertaining with beach town classics from Heydays at The June Motel.  
Located on the shores of Lake Huron in beautiful Sauble Beach, Ontario, Heydays at The June Motel is a retro-inspired restaurant that offers guests a chance to experience the good old days of summer. Serving reinvented coastal classics and elevated comfort food, Heydays is a place to come together with friends and family over a glass of rosé and fresh oysters while the sun goes down and a warm breeze blows in off the water.

This collection of over 120 recipes offers home cooks a delectable range of mouth-watering dishes to savour and share—from their signature buttered Hot Lobster Rolls and Charred Broccoli Caesar Salad to Old Bay Fried Chicken and béchamel-covered Classic Mac and Cheese. Written with humour and warmth, and filled with absolutely stunning photography, Heydays at The June Motel: Beach Town Classics  invites readers to take home the beach and create summer memories that will last a lifetime.