Quail Egg Spinach Salad

            It's finally starting to feel like spring for real, so today I bring you another light salad to celebrate. Easter is coming up, so I thought it would be fun to do something with eggs. Instead of using regular eggs, I decided to go a little fancy and use quail eggs. 

         You could just as easily use regular eggs in this recipe, but I like using quail eggs for a couple of reasons. Firstly, though they can be a little hard to find, when you do see them, chances are they can from a small farm not to far from where they were sold. I always like to support local farmers when I get the chance, so I'll choose quail eggs over factory farm eggs any day for a recipe like this. Flavourwise, they are not that different from regular eggs, but they do have a nice light flavor and they have a good white-to-yolk ratio. The last reason - and honestly the real reason I go for quail eggs - is aesthetics. They just look so darn cute, especially next to the identically sized grape tomatoes.  

    For the dressing I made a really simple, super delicious sundried tomato vinaigrette. It takes just a couple of minutes to whip up and can be used on all sorts of salads. It's especially good with grilled salmon or chicken salad. 

Prep time: 10 minutes. Cooking time: 5 minutes. Serves 5

Ingredients:

20 quail eggs
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 pinch of salt
2 large red bell peppers, thinly sliced
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 lbs baby spinach

sundried tomato vinaigrette:
3 oz (85g) sundried tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 1/3 oz (100ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon water
salt & pepper

1. Bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tbs vinegar and 1 pinch of salt, followed by the quail eggs. Simmer for 5 minutes, then check the eggs by cutting one in half to make sure they are done. Transfer cooked eggs to cold water.

2. Peel the quail eggs under running water. Cut 10 eggs in half and leave the other 10 whole.

3. To make the vinaigrette, combine 1 tablespoon each of tomato paste, dijon mustard, red wine vinegar and maple syrup in a mixing bowl. Slowly add the olive oil while whisking all the ingredients together. Add 1 tablespoon of water to thin the dressing and then season with salt & pepper.

4. Combine the spinach, eggs & red pepper in a large salad bowl and stir in the vinaigrette.