dal i fod yn haf sydd ar ôl….. donna’s spinach and feta cheese salad

Last week I wanted to do Barbara’s “Sweet Cherry Relish” – and when I came to the supermarket they wanted 179.00SEK/$25.55/€21.10/£16.65 per kilo – those cherries must have flown 1;st class from where ever they came from, so that told me that the summer is nearly over now.

Then a lovely salad recipe from Donna@Fructose Free Me  – her’s “Spinach Salad with Toasted Walnuts, Feta and Raspberry Vinaigrette” – and an other recipe that talked to me straight away, but I want a more substance to my dinner salads so my thoughts went to my frozen chicken breasts again.

Then when shopping I wasn’t that lucky with the ingredients – so on with the old chef’s hat and start to improvise. I couldn’t get hold of the raspberry syrup, but I didn’t except to. Walnut oil not to be found and chives neither. With nearly a full head of very green and crisp romaine lettuce at home – I skipped the fresh spinach. Neither do I ever use red wine vinegar for some reason, so I used my 4 herb one instead, even if it’s white. Raspberries, no problem and only 25.00SEK€3.70€2.95/£2.32 for a punnet, not big  but I could afford it. Feta cheese I had home and so the walnuts.

To get that raspberry flavor to the vinaigrette I mushed up some fresh berries in with the oil and vinegar – as I couldn’t get walnut oil, I used a nutty rapeseed oil – and I followed Donna’s recipe when it was about the amount/measures and instead of the raspberry syrup I used maple syrup full of sweetness. Like a little sweetness to my vinaigrette. Use the mixer to get the raspberries really broken down then I strain the dressing through a sieve to separate the pips from the dressing – mixed in the mustard and I had the most wonderful dressing … sweet and tangy.

The chicken breast I cooked covered in the oven – seasoned with salt, freshly ground black pepper and herb de provence. Sliced the cooked chicken breast and gave it a very quick fry for color in the frying pan I toasted the walnuts, to give it some nutty flavor – don’t know if it worked.

Now when it’s getting darker so much earlier and the sun isn’t out I also have problems to get good shots with my little camera – can’t use the flash because all goes too bright – and I don’t have any lamps a strong enough, so I still have to use the balcony table for the picture of the finishing dish to get good shots. So I have to eat earlier by the day – and that means dinner for breakfast in 2 months time *laughing.

It was a really good salad – I maybe over did it with the amount of Feta Cheese, little too much but every ounce went down. That vinaigrette came out so good – so that I will do again.

So if you have all the ingredients that Donna’s has in her recipe and follow it you will have a fantastic salad, I really enjoyed it. Donna provide us with really healthy recipes. Donna, thank you so much for a very tasty and pretty salad.

The music cloud I have chosen for this salad and post – Gwahoddiad – is sang in Welsh – I don’t have a clue what she are singing, but I just love the song. A sweet song … goes well with a pretty salad I thought.

“Gwahoddiad” was originally the English hymn “I hear thy welcome voice”, the words and tune of which were written in 1872 by the American Methodist minister and hymn writer Lewis Hartsough (1828–1919)”- text: en.wikipedia.org

Welsh is a language that only people in Welsh understand. They use more consonants than vowels in their words. My headline is in Welsh – dal i fod yn haf sydd ar ôl = still a bit of summer left – in plain english.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch– is the name on a village in Northern Wales, UK. And that means – “Saint Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio of the red cave.”

Folks, that says it all !!!!!!

“My salad days, when I was green in judgement, cold in blood.”
William Shakespeare

Photo provided by and thanks to – tripwow.tripadvisor.com