Best Of Oregon Salad - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Caramelized Hazelnuts
4 tablespoons tillamook butter, divided
1 lb hazelnuts, shelled
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Balsamic Vinaigrette
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced finely
1 tablespoon coarse grain mustard (I used Oregon's Ingelhoffer mustard)
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar (or dark)
2 teaspoons fresh parsley, minced (or other herb of choice)
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt, to taste
cracked black pepper, to taste
Salad
8 cups baby spinach leaves, washed and drained
1/2 cup dried cranberries
4 ounces oregon blue cheese (or comparable quality bleu cheese)

Preparation

*CARAMELIZED HAZELNUTS: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place the hazelnuts in a large bowl and set aside.
In a small saucepan, combine the honey, brown sugar and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat; stirring constantly.
Boil 3 minutes; DO NOT stir while boiling. After 3 minutes, carefully stir in 2 tablepoons of the butter.
On a large cookie sheet melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Spread the nut mixture on the pan. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring about every 10 minutes. Watch the oven {{CAREFULLY}}!
Remove nuts from oven and cool completely. When cool, break up into little pieces. Yield: 4 cups.
*NOTE: The recipe for the caramelized nuts will make more than you will need for the salad recipe. Refrigerate or freeze the rest for later use. Great in trail mix or on a cheese and fruit platter!
VINAIGRETTE: Combine all the ingredients in a non-reactive bowl and whisk well. Whisk again just before serving.
SALAD: In a large salad bowl toss the baby spinach with the vinaigrette. Sprinkle the dried cranberries on top of the greens and garnish with the cheese and about 1/2 cup caramelized nuts.