Baby spinach salad with dates & almonds
A truly delicious salad from Yotam and Sami’s Jerusalem. The perfect start to any middle eastern inspired meal.
Baby spinach salad with dates & almonds – to serve 4
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced
- 100g pitted Medjool dates, quartered lengthways
- 30g unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 small pitas, about 100g, roughly torn in 4cm pieces
- 75g whole unsalted almonds, roughly chopped
- 2 tsp sumac
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 150g baby spinach leaves, washed
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- salt
Put the vinegar, onion and dates in a small bowl. Add a pinch of salt and mix with your hands. Leave to marinate for 20 minutes, then drain any residual vinegar and discard.
Meanwhile, heat the butter and half the oil in a frying pan. Add the pita and almonds and cook on a medium heat for 4-6 minutes, stirring continually, until the pita is crunchy and golden brown. Remove from the heat and mix in the sumac, chilli and ¼ tsp of salt. Set aside to cool.
When ready to serve, toss the spinach with the pita and mix in a large bowl. Add the dates and onion, remaining oil, lemon juice and another pinch of salt. Taste for seasoning and serve.
(Original recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi’s Jerusalem, Ebury Press, 2012.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 