Italian Bread and Spinach Salad

When searching for healthy salad recipes, healthy spinach salad recipes are often the most popular choice, due to the nutritional benefits spinach has to offer. Spinach also has beautiful green color and a tender texture that provides a nice alternative to the crispiness of lettuce.

This healthy spinach salad recipe features fresh baby spinach leaves and a delightful variety of fresh and flavorful ingredients, all tossed together with either prepared or homemade balsamic vinaigrette, giving this spinach salad fresh, light and tangy flavor!

One of the key ingredients that gives this salad such amazing taste and texture is the roasted and sautéed garlic bread cubes. Rather than the use of croutons which traditionally have a crunchy texture throughout, this spinach salad recipe features roasted garlic bread that has been cut into cubes, then briefly sautéed in a little olive oil to add an outer crisp, while keeping that soft and chewy texture of the Italian bread on the inside. Ciabatta style bread is the preferred bread choice for this salad, because of its chewy texture and small air pockets that allow the salad dressing to seep through, capturing flavor. If you choose to purchase prepared garlic bread from the store, you might end up with a French bread loaf, which too will work with this recipe, though it won't have that chewy texture that Ciabatta bread has to offer. I highly recommend simply purchasing a loaf of Ciabatta bread, then making your own garlic bread with homemade garlic butter. Simply cut off a section of the needed amounnt of bread, then cut that section into 1-inch slices. Spread some homemade garlic butter onto each slice, then broil just until lightly browned. At that point, cut each slice into 1-inch cubes, then sauté in a little olive oil until crispy on most surfaces. The great aspect of making your own homemade garlic bread is that leftovers can be easily made into garlic bread that can either be served with this salad or with any other meal!

The other tasty ingredients that make up this magnificent spinach salad are cubes of cooked chicken breast, halved grape tomatoes, halved Kalamata olives, sliced red onion and cubed mozzarella. (Tips: You can either cook your own chicken breast using your own preferred cooking method, or purchase precooked chicken breast. Small mozzarella balls or marinated mozzarella balls or string cheese cut into 1/2-inch pieces can also be used.) Just before drizzling with balsamic vinaigrette, the salad is lightly tossed, then topped with thin slices of fresh basil leaves and chopped Italian parsley, which although may be a bit camoflagued in the salad, add even more fresh and distinctive flavor! So, if it is a search for healthy salad recipes or healthy spinach salad recipes that brought you to this page, this healthy spinach salad recipe certainly will deliver!