Tomato and Spinach Salad with Gorgonzola

I eat too fast.  When I was very little, I picked at my food and often got in trouble for not finishing it.  That's what happens when your parents were children during the Depression and WWII.  I'm very lucky I didn't end up with an eating disorder.  As an adult, I started scarfing down food during too-short meal breaks at work, and it turned into eating quickly at every meal.  That's why I only put as much food on my plate as I intend to eat.  If it's in front of me, I will finish it.

This salad was an attempt to slow things down by serving multiple courses at dinner, separated by at least fifteen minutes.  With warmer weather, I'm trying to make my meals pretty instead of a chore.  I'm using the fancy dishes on more days than just Friday when I'm not microwaving leftovers.  This is the time of year that fresh foods are at their peak, and I want to take advantage of that.

The biggest drama in this salad is washing the spinach.  Well, not burning the walnuts while you're washing the spinach.  I'm not even whisking up a proper dressing.  Drizzle of oil and vinegar, shake of salt and pepper, done.  The goal is to enhance the natural flavors, rather than drown them out.

1 lb fresh spinach
1 lb Roma tomatoes (2-4, depending on size)
*1/2 C walnuts
4 oz gorgonzola or other bleu cheese
2 Tb olive oil
1 Tb balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Wash the spinach well, shake dry, and cut into strips.  The last part isn't necessary if you're using small baby spinach.  I happened to buy leaves large enough to count as landscaping.  I also liked the way they piled up on the plate, in contrast to the tomato slices.

2.  Thinly slice the tomatoes crosswise.  I got out the V-slicer, and they were beautiful.  Leaving the slicer out for future salads.

3.  While that's going on, lightly toast the walnuts in a dry pan over medium heat.  I happened to have chopped walnuts, so that's what I used, but halves would be more attractive.  Stir or shake often.  It takes about 2 minutes.  Pull them as soon as you see color or smell them as roasted.

4.  To assemble the salad, pile the greens loosely on each plate.  Arrange the tomato slices in a pretty pattern.  Sprinkle with walnuts and crumbled gorgonzola.  Drizzle lightly with olive oil and even more lightly with the balsamic vinegar.  Dust with freshly cracked pepper and large-grain or flaky salt.

Difficulty rating  π