Baby Spinach

Baby Spinach just cries out to be used for a good tossed salad. It's mild leaves seem to hold up well under many a vinaigrette and meshes well with just about any cheese you can think to throw into the salad. I have been so fortunate to have many friends send veggies my way from their gardens this summer. Funny thing is, no one has given me any fruit, up until now. My boss received some incredible peaches in the mail the other day from friends. Knowing that she would never be able to finish all herself and considering the usually busy house is more like a ghost town these days, she sent me home with a handful of very ripe ones. Almost instantly, I had visions of tossing a few into a spinach salad with some feta cheese. As tasty as my idea sounded, I thought I would jazz it up a little more. I sliced the peaches, drizzled some balsamic vinegar over them and popped them in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. They had such a nice golden hue to them and the tang of the vinegar complemented the sweetness of the peaches nicely. Now they were ready for my salad. I whipped up a quick vinaigrette with some fresh rosemary and tossed all the ingredients into the bowl. Topped my salad with some feta cheese and dove right in. Granted, the spinach was suppose to be the "star" of this dish but admittedly, the peaches stole the spotlight! It did prove my point that baby spinach is so versatile and you can make a wide variety of different salads when it's base are the tasty little leaves.