Spinach Apple Salad

Third week of April. Caleb called Saturday morning. He said: she said yes. He said: dinner Friday. I said: where. He said: a Vietnamese place in Tulsa she suggested. I said: Vietnamese. He said: I've never had Vietnamese. I said: that's the right kind of date. He said: what do I order. I said: pho. He said: what's pho. I said: it's the soup of the century, Caleb. He said: alright. We laughed. He said he'd call Friday after. I waited Friday. He called at ten-thirty. He said: it went well. He said: she ordered for both of us. He said: I had pho. He said: it was the soup of the century. He said: I asked her out again. I said: when. He said: next Friday. I said: same place. He said: she wants to try a different one. I said: that's good. He said: yeah. He said: I haven't felt this since 2007. I said: well. He said: yeah. I said: take care of yourself. He said: I will.

The garden is filling in. The peas are climbing. The lettuce is two inches tall. The spinach is coming up. The radishes are at full size and we ate the first ones Tuesday — three radishes from the bed, sliced thin on bread with butter and salt, the way the French do it. Hannah said: you're fancier than you used to be. I said: a man can grow. She said: a man can. She kissed the top of my head.

Tomatoes went in the ground Sunday. Twelve plants — eight Cherokee Purple, two German Pink, two Romas. The bed had been prepped with compost in the fall. I dug holes, sprinkled bone meal, set the plants, mounded soil up around the stems for deeper rooting, watered. The tomato bed is the first big work of summer planting. From here the rest cascades — peppers in two weeks, beans in three, corn in four.

The food forest is in full leaf-out now. The pawpaws are blooming — small dark flowers that look like little leather purses. The persimmons are budding. The pecans are leafing slowly, the way pecans always come on slowly, last to leaf and last to drop. The orchard is alive in a way it wasn't alive a month ago. The transition is fast in April. You can blink and miss a stage.

The spinach is coming up, and it’s almost ready — another week and we’ll be pulling leaves straight from the bed. In the meantime, I bought a bag at the market and made this salad the same week Caleb called to say it went well with the girl from Tulsa. Something about all of it — the new things taking root, the first harvests coming, a brother finding his footing again — made me want to put something fresh and alive on the table. This salad is exactly that: bright, quick, and tasting like April ought to taste.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 10 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

6 cups fresh baby spinach, washed and dried
1 large crisp apple (such as Honeycrisp or Fuji), cored and thinly sliced
1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese
1/4 cup toasted pecans or walnuts
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, and Dijon mustard until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Prep the salad. Place the spinach in a large salad bowl. Arrange the apple slices and red onion over the top.
Add toppings. Scatter the crumbled cheese and toasted nuts evenly over the salad.
Dress and serve. Drizzle the dressing over the salad just before serving and toss gently to coat. Serve immediately so the spinach stays crisp.

Nutrition (per serving)

Spinach Apple Salad — Fresh From the Bed, Right to the Table