Strawberry Spinach Salad
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An easy strawberry spinach salad recipe, with a zesty poppy seed dressing and crunchy toasted pecans.
As lovely as this salad is, throwing a few candied walnuts on top and a few crumbles of creamy honey goat cheese will  make it even more dreamy. If that is even possible you guys…
The perfect healthy, good for you side dish for a summer garden party, Valentine’s dinner and even Christmas. If you want to give it more of a savory spin I’d suggest crumbling some feta or blue cheese on top.
To make the dressing you’ll need a mini food processor or blender (<-amazon) to buzz up some sweet, fresh strawberries with olive oil, lemon juice and a little vanilla extract for magic!  Then you want to whisk in some good honey (no sugar), and the poppy seeds so they keep their lovely texture.Â
Easy to prepare for a crowd or pack in a jar for lunches to go.
Goes well with grilled chicken, this peppercorn steak, shellfish, crispy bacon bits, salmon, burrata and a fruity, crisp white wine!
P.S. I love this with a mix of baby spinach and fresh basil leaves as well. You might want to experiment with that combo as well, I suspect you’ll really like it.
Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb baby spinach
- 1 c strawberries -sliced or quartered
- 1 c walnuts -toasted or candied
- 2 oz honey goat cheese (optional)
For The Strawberry Dressing
- 8-10 small strawberries
- 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small lemon -juiced
- zest from 1 organic lemon
- 3 tbs wild raw honey
- 1/4 tsp sweet paprika optional
- 1/4 tsp sea salt + more to taste
- 2 tsp poppy seeds
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- To make the salad dressing: puree the strawberries with the the olive oil, lemon juice and vanilla extract in the food processor. Transfer to the salad bowl and whisk in the honey, lemon zest and poppy seeds. Season with the sea salt, pepper and paprika.
- Add the spinach and sliced strawberries on top of the dressing and give it a gentle toss to coat just before serving.
- Serve sprinkled with the walnuts and goat cheese on top.
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This salad was absolutely delicious!! My entire family loved it, including our daughters aged 18 months and 5 1/2. The salad dressing was sweet but not too overwhelming and I added your suggested grilled chicken recipe on top! We also added a nice balsamic drizzle. It was perfect for a warm summer night! Thank you! I look forward to trying more of your recipes, this was my first one!
This looks so good! It would be fun to balsalmic vinegar into the mix too!