Hver gang vi har gjester, lager hun en enkel salat med spinat og litt lime.

Hver gang means every time or whenever. It introduces a time clause:

• Hver gang vi har gjester = Every time we have guests

It is a very common way to talk about habits or repeated situations.

Both hver gang and når can talk about repeated events, but they are used a bit differently.

• Hver gang vi har gjester = every single time we have guests
• Når vi har gjester = when/whenever we have guests

Hver gang sounds a little more specific and emphasizes repetition more clearly.

Because Hver gang vi har gjester is a subordinate clause that comes first in the sentence. In Norwegian, it is normal to put a comma after an introductory subordinate clause:

• Hver gang vi har gjester, lager hun ...

This helps separate the time clause from the main clause.

This is a very important Norwegian word order rule.

In a main clause, the finite verb usually comes in second position. Since the sentence begins with the subordinate clause Hver gang vi har gjester, that whole clause takes the first position. So the verb in the main clause must come next:

• Hver gang vi har gjester, lager hun ...

Not:

• Hver gang vi har gjester, hun lager ... ❌

This is often called the V2 rule (verb-second).

Lager is the present tense of å lage, which often means:

• to make
• to prepare

Here it means prepares/makes:

• lager hun en enkel salat = she makes/prepares a simple salad

With food, å lage is extremely common.

In Norwegian, the present tense is often used for habitual actions, just like in English:

• Every time we have guests, she makes a simple salad.

So:

• har = have
• lager = makes

The sentence describes a repeated pattern, not just one specific event.

Because gjester is indefinite plural:

• en gjest = a guest
• gjester = guests

In Norwegian, indefinite plural nouns usually appear without an article:

• vi har gjester = we have guests

Compare:

• vi har en gjest = we have a guest
• vi har gjester = we have guests

Because salat is a common gender noun, so the indefinite singular article is en:

• en salat = a salad

The adjective enkel must agree with the noun phrase:

• en enkel salat = a simple salad

This is the normal adjective form before a common-gender singular noun in the indefinite form.

Because the noun is:

• singular
• indefinite
• common gender (en-word)

In that situation, many adjectives use the basic form:

• en enkel salat

Compare with other forms:

• et enkelt måltid = a simple meal
  (et-word often adds -t)
• enkle salater = simple salads
  (plural usually adds -e)

So enkel is the correct form with en salat.

This is a prepositional phrase describing what is in the salad.

• med = with
• spinat = spinach
• og = and
• litt lime = a little lime / some lime

So:

• en enkel salat med spinat og litt lime
  = a simple salad with spinach and a little lime

The whole phrase modifies salat.

Because here lime is being treated as an ingredient or substance, not as one whole fruit.

• en lime = a lime (one fruit)
• litt lime = a little lime / some lime juice or lime flavor

In food descriptions, Norwegian often uses litt for small amounts of an ingredient:

• litt salt = a little salt
• litt sitron = a little lemon
• litt lime = a little lime

So the sentence suggests she adds a bit of lime, not necessarily one entire lime fruit.

No, spinat is being used as an uncountable mass noun, like spinach in English.

So you would normally say:

• med spinat = with spinach

not something like med en spinat unless you meant a specific spinach plant, which would be unusual in this context.

Yes. Gjest usually means guest, and in many situations that can include:

• invited people for dinner
• people visiting your home
• guests in a broader social sense

In this sentence, vi har gjester most naturally means we have people over / we are hosting guests.

Yes, if the main clause comes first, the word order changes:

• Hun lager en enkel salat med spinat og litt lime hver gang vi har gjester.

This means the same thing. Notice that now the main clause has the normal order:

• Hun lager ...

There is no inversion because nothing else is occupying the first position before the verb in the main clause.

Yes, definitely. Hver gang is a very useful chunk to memorize. It is commonly used in sentences like:

• Hver gang jeg ser ham, smiler han.
  = Every time I see him, he smiles.
• Hver gang det regner, blir veiene glatte.
  = Every time it rains, the roads get slippery.

Learning it as a set phrase will help you produce natural Norwegian more easily.