Summer Baby Spinach Salad with Balsamic Honey Mustard Dressing
Wednesday, January 07, 2026
"Yes, the name is long.
No, the salad won’t last long."
Starting the new year on a healthy note with this recipe! Let's also start
by addressing the elephant in the room: the name.
Baby Spinach, Grilled Peaches, Strawberries, Crumbled Feta and Toasted Pecans Salad with
Honey Mustard Balsamic Dressing
is… a lot! By the time you’ve finished saying it, you could have assembled
the salad. But honestly, it’s a mouthful of a name for a salad you’ll
happily have many mouthfuls of!
This salad is what happens when summer fully shows up on my side of the
world and salads officially move from “side dish” to
main character energy. With the heat
already making itself comfortable, we need salads like this to help keep our
meals balanced without feeling heavy or boring. It’s fresh, light and
exactly what you want alongside almost any meal, especially at a braai or
BBQ where salads are no longer optional, they’re essential.
Now let’s talk spinach - because yes, it’s good for you, but no, we don’t
need to be boring about it. Raw baby spinach is packed with iron, fibre and
vitamins, and it’s one of the easiest greens to get into your diet during
hot weather when cooked veg just doesn’t appeal. Mild, tender and easy to
dress up, it’s basically the ultimate summer green that still lets you feel
like you’re eating properly.
Adding baby spinach to my salads has become my new hyper fixation. I've made this a few times now, by mixing things up by adding some baby
leaf lettuce from a supermarket lettuce mix bag, mainly because it was in
the fridge and the summer heat discourages food waste. It added extra
crunch, boosted the volume and worked beautifully with the spinach without
stealing the spotlight. Definitely an option if you want to stretch the
salad a little further.
What I love most is how quickly this salad comes together, and how
impressive it looks once it’s plated. I made it for a regular lunch and then
again for a family braai (BBQ) when we hosted guests, and I tell you, that
platter did not stand a chance. Swiped clean, no leftovers, not even a
single runaway pecan in sight!
And then there’s the Balsamic Honey Mustard Dressing. I’ll be
sharing the full recipe below, but please don’t feel locked into it if
balsamic isn’t your thing (because, full disclosure, it’s not usually mine
either). I tend tp skip salad dressings altogether. This one is light,
balanced and just tangy enough to balance beautifully with the fruit. My
family absolutely loved it, and if you’d prefer something else, a lightly
creamy, herby dressing or even my Mango Salad Dressing (click here for the recipe) would also work perfectly here, this salad is very
forgiving and happily takes on whatever dressing mood you’re in.
TikTok
@spicyfusionkitchen Another day another salad recipe 🤤 Starting the year off healthy, and this heat calls for it!! 🌞 Summer Baby Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Grilled Peaches, Feta, Toasted Pecans and Homemade Balsamic Honey Mustard Dressing 👀 Full Recipe On www.spicyfusionkitchen.com 🔗 #salad #fruit #food #EasyRecipe #foodtiktok ♬ Classic - MKTO
Ingredients
80g - 100g Baby Spinach
1 - 2 Peaches
4 - 5 Strawberries
1/2 Half-moon Sliced Medium Purple Onion
1/4 Cup Pecans Roughly Chopped
1/2 Cup Cubed Feta
1 tsp Dried Parsley
Balsamic Honey Musard Dressing
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 tsp Honey
1 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp or Honey Mustard Salad Dressing
Salt and Cracked Black Pepper To Taste
Method
1. Generously spread baby spinach onto a serving platter. Top with the
grilled peaches, sliced strawberries, sliced half-moon purple onions,
roughly chopped pecans and cubes of feta.
2. To make the salad dressing, mix in a bowl balsamic vinegar, honey,
dijon mustard, salt and cracked black pepper. I used the shortcut by using a honey mustard
salad dressing instead of honey and dijon mustard seperately (but I did add extra honey in seperately).
3. Drizzle the dressing over the salad just before serving.
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