Ingredients:

Honeyed almonds:

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground paprika

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2 cups whole blanched almonds

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil paper. Generously oil aluminum foil with vegetable oil or with no-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine the sugar, cinnamon, cloves, paprika, and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl. Add almonds and honey and stir mixture well to coat almonds. Spread almonds onto prepared foil-lined baking sheet. Place pan in oven and bake for 15 minutes, stirring and separating almonds halfway through. Transfer the hot pan to a cooling rack. When almonds are cool enough to handle, break almonds apart and place onto a cool plate. (Once completely cooled, almonds can be stored in a zip-lock freezer bag at room temperature for three days or frozen for up to two months.)

Salad dressing:

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2 1/2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons chopped shallots

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Combine vinegar and honey in a small bowl. Stir in shallots. Slowly whisk in olive oil, mixing until dressing emulsifies. Season dressing with salt and pepper, as desired. (Dressing can be made three days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.)

Salad:

6 cups torn romaine lettuce

6 ounces fresh baby spinach

2 ears of fresh corn, shucked, and cut off the cob

2 fresh tomatoes cut into 1-inch pieces

In a large salad bowl, combine romaine lettuce, spinach and corn. Add tomatoes. Toss salad with desired amount of dressing and sprinkle with almonds.

Makes 6 servings.