It’s the first Sunday of the month and time for the Vintage Recipe Swap. When I saw that Christianna had chosen a pizza recipe for this month’s swap, I was immediately consumed with thoughts of trying a new crust using my beloved cauliflower.
Let’s just say that the resulting cauliflower crust looked much more appetizing than it was. I have read many great reviews of cauliflower crust pizza, but while edible, this is simply not something that I would recommend as it was.
As I stared down the failed pizza, I knew that I didn’t want to make a pizza. I did however want to do something with my favorite pizza flavors. Ham, pineapple, mozzarella cheese, these are some of my favorite toppings.
The inspiration for this salad came from the Hawaiian pizza, but this salad stands on it’s own.
The dressing for this salad is the main attraction. I loved the sweet freshness of the pineapple, with the tang from the balsamic and the underlying heat from the cayenne.
Hawaiian Salad with Pineapple Balsamic Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- Salad Ingredients - multiply as needed for the number of people to be served:
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves or lettuce of your choice
- 1 ounce slice of black forest ham chopped into bite size pieces
- 1 ounce fresh mozzarella thinly sliced or diced
- ⅛ - 1/4 cup fresh pineapple sliced thinly and cut into bite size pieces
- Dressing Ingredients:
- 1 cup puree from fresh pineapple this was ¼ of a large pineapple
- 3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
- 2-3 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup light flavor olive oil
- pinch of salt
- 2 generous dashes of cayenne pepper adjust to taste
Instructions
- Place the chunks of pineapple in the bottom of the blender. Puree until completely smooth. Add the vinegar, honey and oil. Blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pulse to combine. Pour into a glass jar and refrigerate. Shake well before serving.
- Layer the salad ingredients onto a plate or into a bowl. Drizzle with the prepared dressing and toss just before serving. Enjoy!
