Simple Salad

Well I am back after a little break.  I have moved residence and am settling into a new routine and life, so to speak.  It is wonderful, it is urban and one of the best parts is that there is a farmers market steps from my door.  This market is 2 floors and lots of vendors from florists and hand made crafts to cheeses and products from around the globe.  It is a wonderful experience there.  I walk through it most days on my way home from work just to feel the vibe it offers.
That being said there are many fresh and new items I need to try and will most definitely be blogging about that, there so there your teaser to stay tuned.
Now,  to the meat and potatoes of this blog (couldn't help it with the food pun)

what you need...
spinach
blackberries ( or any berry of your preference)
goats cheese
red onion
balsamic glaze
butter
tofu
cucumber
white wine
grainy dijon mustard

Normally, I would use olive oil in place of the butter but believe it or not, I am right out.  I know that is a no no in a  proper kitchen, but after all this is the Paupers kitchen and these recipes are designed to give you ideas of what do with what you have.  Further to that, you don't know what you have unless you just start experimenting.
That is how this dinner began.  I knew I wanted salad and I had taken inventory of the things in my fridge and I have a general idea of what sorts of things can go together.  I took a table spoon of butter and heated it in a pan.  I cut up the tofu in cubes and sliced the onion into slivers.  I added that to the pan and tossed it in the melted butter.  I drizzled on some balsamic glaze to get a caramelized sort of feel and taste and then dropped in a table of grainy dijon mustard. At this point I was stirring it around and I thought it needed some more liquid so I had some white wine in the fridge and added about a 1/3 of a cup to that and let is simmer and reduce.
In the meantime, I cut up my cucumber, washed the berries and added the goats cheese to the bed of spinach.
Once the mixture in the pan is ready...use your judgement here, you don't want it to start burning so keep it on medium heat but when the onions are nice and soft that should be a good indicator that its ready.
Let it cool just a minute before adding to the spinach.  There you have it, yet another fabulous dinner with limited know how and resources.
Don't forget to get a wine with this dish.  I had an Italian Malbec from Spinelli, it was smooth and easy.  Very subtle in spice but it was still thick in body.