Raspberry Spinach Salad with Caramelized Garam Masala Pumpkin Seeds

Serves: 4-6 servings or 2 as a large dinner salad

Ingredients

Salad:

• 8 ounces of washed baby spinach, 8 cups

• 8 ounces raspberries, 3 cups, washed and drained

• 1 large ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and cubed

White Balsamic Vinaigrette:

• 2 Tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

• 4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• sea salt to taste

• optional touch of maple syrup if your vinegar is really sour

Garam Masala Pumpkin Seeds:

• ½ cup raw pumpkin seeds

• 1 Teaspoon garam masala

• 1 Tablespoon maple syrup

• sea salt to taste, I used ¼ Teaspoon

Instructions

1. Place the baby spinach, raspberries, and avocado in a large serving bowl.

2. Place the ingredients for the white balsamic into a glass jar, secure the lid, and shake the dressing together until it's emulsified. Season to taste with sea salt and a touch of maple syrup if needed. If the dressing separates before you're ready to use it, simply shake it together again.

3. Toast the pumpkin seeds in a 9" cast iron pan over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until the pumpkins seeds smell fragrantly toasted, and they start to make small popping sounds.

4. Add the garam masala, maple syrup, and sea salt to the pan. Stir vigorously to combine, and turn the heat off after the liquid is absorbed by the pumpkin seeds.

5. From here you can either let the pumpkin seeds cool in the pan, (if they stick to the pan use a metal spatula and they pop right out) or you can use them right away which adds a nice warm element to the salad.

6. Toss the salad with the pumpkin seeds and vinaigrette.

7. Serve immediately.

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