Spinach Salad With Lemon and Mint

Spinach Salad With Lemon and Mint
Michael Kraus for The New York Times
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
5(547)
Notes
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This salad is a snip, but then one would hardly expect a salad to cause trouble. Using a lemon rather than just lemon juice as an ingredient makes for the most fabulous salad regardless of leaves. And by all means, serve it as a starter rather than a follow-up on the main course. It is fresh, sharp, vegan and delicious.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings
  • 1lemon
  • cup fresh mint leaves, finely sliced, more for garnish
  • teaspoons kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 8ounces baby spinach leaves
  • 3tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

75 calories; 7 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 1 gram protein; 148 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Cut off top and bottom of lemon, and slice off skin and pith. Cut lemon flesh into rounds ¼-inch thick, then slice each round into eighths.

  2. Step 2

    In a salad bowl, combine lemon, mint, and salt. Season with pepper to taste. Add spinach and oil, and toss well. Garnish with additional mint, and serve.

Ratings

5 out of 5
547 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Too avoid over salting use 1/4 teaspoon of Kosher or Malden salt. The amount the recipe calls for is overkill and this is coming from someone who likes salty foods. I found that a full lemon was too tart so next time I will try 1/2 a lemon with the pith removed and much smaller pieces in the salad. The brightness of the mint was delightfully refreshing and next time I may use 1/4 instead of 1/3 of a cup.

Added beets and pumpkin seeds, both nice with the fresh lemon. Great recipe!

Great approach to dino kale--washed, dried, thinly cut--and mango cubes. I've also made this as written with the spinach (and have sometimes used arugula) but for all variations we like it best with less salt--1/2 tsp. kosher.

Also had this as a prelude to Provencal salmon - an ideal combination.

Used a Meyer lemon cut into supremes. Added finely chopped shallots, a little honey and lemon Balsamic to kick up the flavor a bit. Didn't measure salt or pepper but added to taste. Added a cut up avocado. Served with Mark Bittman's Devilled Chicken and wild rice. Superb dinner!

I wonder what adding strawberries to this would be like to make it a perfect summer salad, considering they should go well with the mint and the lemon.

Fresh and tasty green salad, very simple to make. Using the lemon this way works very well and is quite refreshing. While a fair amount of salt is necessary, I cut the amount in half and it worked well.

This is a nice combination of flavors. I added diced beets that I bought at Trader Joe's. It was a nice addition of color and made the salad more hearty.

This will be my new go to salad. I was cooking for 2 so halved everything except the mint. Not a fan of eating lemons so just used the lemon juice. Heeded earlier comments & just used a good pinch of salt. Bright light salad.

Had this last night as a great accompaniment to roasted salmon and mock frites. A great combination of flavours in this even though it's so simple - the salad bowl was cleaned out by guests!

I like idea of pear and feta

Newly minted fan! But reduce salt to taste and add something a little sweet - I added sliced pear.

Way, way too much salt! 1/4 tsp would be sufficient. Strawberries would be a divine addition. Also, a very small amount of feta.

Great simple straight forward recipe! Its on regular rotation now!! I add a sprinkle of cinnamon, and it reminds me of veg. dolmas.

I can't stop eating this salad. it is so good. I follow the recipe exactly.

I made this salad but because I had my grandkids I made it with grapefruit instead of lemon. I didn’t think the lemon would go over well with. The grapefruit was great. I am planning on using oranges next time. Love the freshness with the mint.

Great idea and flavor combo but too strong. Recommend cutting the amount of lemon or just use lemon juice and a bit less of it.

made with mixed greens and kale, lots of mint, very tasty.

Great salad course preceding grilled burgers. Used 5 oz spinach and half a lemon. Mint is nice touch. Recipe calls for more salt than necessary - could cut down by a third or so. Don’t skimp on the ground pepper, though. Will do this again soon.

I agree with others that the recipe calls for way too much salt. I used 1/2 the recipe amount, Morton’s Kosher, it it was still a bit too much. Otherwise, it was a unique recipe worth keeping in the rotation.

I'm not sure why so many rave reviews...maybe I got the proportions wrong but the flavor of the mint didn't come through enough so there was little else interesting going on...

Brought it to a potluck. Tasted great, but spinach looked wilted. I would use kale next time.

Start w half salt Could add avocado

Too much salt. Try just 1 t.

Keeper -delicious

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