Spinach Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing

Hoboken is only a mile square but it has a ton of great restaurants.  Among them are some tasty Cuban spots like La Isla.  It's a casual little place with rarely an empty seat with tons of tasty dishes on it's menu. One of my favorites is the spinach salad. It's just fresh with a combination of sweet and savory flavors as well as creamy and crunchy textures.  It's not a terribly complicated salad it's just the care they take to pile it on the plate.  It's really a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds too.  It's great on it's own or you can add shrimp or chicken to if if you want to "beef" it up. If you're ever in Hoboken, NJ I definitely recommend stopping by La Isla for a meal, if you aren't you can make a salad inspired by this great spot right in your own kitchen!

Ingredients

• 3 cups baby spinach
• 1-2 beets, cooked & sliced or you can use the ones in those vaccuum packed bags
• 1 small red onion, sliced thin
• 1 mango, cubed
• 1 avocado, cubed
• 1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
• 3 tablespoons crumbled blue or gorgonzola cheese

Ingredients for Cilantro-Lime Dressing

• 1 cup cilantro leaves
• 2 limes, juice & zest
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Make it!

1. Make the dressing first.  Combine cilantro, lime juice and zest and olive oil in a food processor. 
2. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Set dressing aside.
4. Prepare all the vegetables and fruit for you salad.
5. In a large bowl toss together the spinach, mango, red onion, avocado walnuts and blue cheese with half the dressing. If you like more dressing add the rest.
6. Place thin layer of sliced beets on each salad dish (I made two large salads but you could definitely split it into more salads on smaller plates).
7. Pile half the tossed salad onto each dish of beets. 
8. Serve and eat immediately.