Simple Meals

Two Mondays ago I was biking my way to work and a woman decided to step out in front of me with out looking.  The result was me swerving to miss her, hitting her bag and being thrown off my bike.  It could have been much worse I realize, but it did result in me having a radial fracture in my left elbow, which is my dominate arm.  For a week my arm was in a sling making it very difficult to do much of anything.  It is now out of the sling but still has a sleeve on it and I cannot put much weight on it or do simple things like spray perfume.
Needless to say, this has put a kink in my cooking and baking ambitions.  The plans for the meals I had in mind grocery shopping the Sunday before the accident have mostly been put on hold.  My roommate has helped me with a few meals that required more work than my poor right arm could preform.  The only new creation I have tried is simple salad that I found in my Great Food Fast cookbook called Spinach Salad with Dried Cherries.
I had every intention of following this recipe to the T, except maybe buying the pumpkin seeds already roasted because I was feeling lazy.  That did not end up being the case.  First of all, I thought I had Dijon mustard already, so I did not buy anymore. Turns out I had spicy brown mustard instead.  Then at the grocery store I couldn't find any kind of pumpkin seeds or dried cherries.  I decided to use roasted sunflower seeds and cherry flavored Craisons.  This all actually worked out really well and I thought it was pretty tasty.  The sweetness of the Craisons balanced the red onion and dressing out really well. Plus the bonus of only having to toss things in a bowl made it one arm friendly.  I'm sure Martha's recipe is equally tasty or better but my messy version will be making repeat appearances in my kitchen even when I have the ability really cook something up.


Spinach, Red Onion and Cherry Craison Salad

Dressing

• 4 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon spice brown mustard
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

Salad

• 5 ounces baby spinach
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1/3 cup dried cherry flavored Craisons
• 1/8 cup roasted sunflower seeds

Instructions

1. Mix together the ingredients for the dressing in a medium sized bowl with a wisk and set aside. 
2. Toss the salad ingredients together and top with dressing as desired. 

Enjoy!