Spinach Almond Salad

Hana is fourteen months old. She has twelve words now — mama, dada, bap (rice, in Korean — her third word was Korean, which made Jisoo cry and me cry and James say, "She's bilingual before she's potty-trained"), no, yes (which she says to everything, including things she means no to), cat, up, more, water, shoe, bye-bye, and — as of Tuesday — halmoni. She said halmoni. She said it on a FaceTime call with Jisoo. Jisoo was talking to her, and Hana pointed at the screen and said, "halmoni." Jisoo went still. She said, "Dahee. She said halmoni." I said, "She said halmoni." Jisoo said nothing else. She just looked at her granddaughter on the screen, the granddaughter who called her grandmother in Korean, and she was quiet and the quiet was the fullest quiet I have ever heard.

Karen has not yet been called halmoni by Hana. Hana calls Karen "Ka-Ka" — her approximation, her baby-version, which Karen has accepted with grace and which David says "sounds like a parrot but I'll take it." Karen says, "Ka-Ka is fine. Ka-Ka is what she can say. Ka-Ka is love." Karen is right. Ka-Ka is love. Halmoni is love. Every name Hana gives her grandmothers is love, however it sounds, however imperfect the pronunciation. The names are Hana's. The names are hers to give.

Banchan Labs: February box shipped. "Winter Warmth" — the annual comfort collection. 5,200 subscribers. James and I are discussing expansion: should we hire a full-time operations person? Should we move to a bigger kitchen? Should we add new product lines — snacks, sauces, pre-made kimchi jars? The questions are exciting and terrifying. The company is outgrowing its infancy. The company is entering its toddler phase, wobbling but walking, determined but unsteady, needing support and space simultaneously. Like Hana. The company is like Hana. Everything is like Hana now. My whole world is refracted through a one-year-old girl who says halmoni and bap and yes to everything. Everything is yes. Everything is halmoni. Everything is the thread.

The recipe this week is Hana's — her first real Korean meal, not puree, not mashed, but actual food cut into small pieces and placed on her tray for her to eat with her hands and her silver spoon. Steamed rice (bap — her word). Seasoned spinach, chopped fine. Soft tofu, cubed. A small piece of Korean pancake (hobakjeon). A few grains of my onggi kimchi, tasted for the first time — her face was extraordinary: surprise, then consideration, then a second taste. She ate the kimchi. She ate it. Kevin, I am telling you: she ate kimchi at fourteen months. Not a year. Fourteen months. She ate it and she reached for more and the more was the word and the word was yes and the yes is the thread and the thread holds.

The seasoned spinach I chopped fine for Hana’s tray that night—the spinach she ate first, before the tofu, before the hobakjeon, before even the kimchi she surprised me with—made me think about how simple greens can carry so much. She didn’t know spinach was good for her. She just knew it tasted right. This spinach almond salad is the grown-up version of that same instinct: clean, honest, a little nutty, nothing to hide. I make it on nights when I want to feel like something is exactly enough.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 5 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

6 cups fresh baby spinach, washed and dried
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Toast the almonds. In a small dry skillet over medium heat, toast the sliced almonds for 3–4 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, rice vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, and garlic powder until emulsified. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Assemble the salad. Place the baby spinach in a large salad bowl. Add the sliced red onion and dried cranberries over the top.
Add almonds and dress. Scatter the toasted almonds over the salad. Drizzle the dressing over everything and toss gently to coat all the leaves evenly.
Serve immediately. Plate and serve right away so the spinach stays crisp and the almonds keep their crunch.

Nutrition (per serving)

Spinach Almond Salad — The Greens Hana Reached For