Spinach Salad & Maple Vinaigrette

Spinach Salad & Maple Vinaigrette. October 11, 2026.

Today’s recipe is a simple Fall salad using a colorful, nutritious medley of baby spinach, crunchy tart apples, crispy bacon, and sweet cranberries, topped with a tangy maple vinaigrette. It would be a wonderful accompaniment to pumpkin bisque or as a beginning course for a meal. The recipe is easy to adapt should you choose to. As for dressings, this one uses the classic 3:1 oil-to-vinegar ratio. I prefer the traditional ratio because the dressing is thicker, tastes better, clings to your salad better, and stays emulsified longer. However, the great thing with salad dressing is that you can easily adjust this ratio to 2:1 or even 1:1, depending on your taste or dietary needs. The recipe for the salad is below.

Spinach Salad & Maple Vinaigrette

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Ingredients

Spinach Salad

• Clean and dried baby spinach leaves
• Gorgonzola or bleu cheese crumbles
• Cooked, crumbled bacon
• Dried sweet cranberries
• Granny Smith apple slices (thin)

Maple Vinaigrette (makes not quite 2 cups of dressing)

• 1/4 cup Maple syrup
• 1/3 cup Apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp. orange juice
• 2 tsps. dijon mustard
• A few grains of salt
• 1 cup Olive oil

Instructions

Spinach Salad

• Combine salad ingredients as desired and serve with maple vinaigrette.
  

Maple Vinaigrette

• Combine the first five ingredients in a blender.
• While the blender is still going, slowly pour the olive oil through the open pour spout of your blender.
• When dressing is thick and emulsified, it is done.
• Serve dressing with salad. Store in the fridge when not using.
  

Have a beautiful day!