Summer is here. For my family that means visits to the water park, indoor trampoline parks, baseball, and fruit salads. It also means embracing (or tolerating) 100+ degree temperatures. So I try to seek in as many healthy and cool recipes that I can find to feed our family of 6.
I love this salad. I continuously modify this recipe and add additional ingredients depending what fruits are in seasons or on sale. Due to the addition of a small amount of sugar, my kids are willing to eat their fruits and vegetables without a fuss.
This recipe is also perfect for me as a working mom or on days where I know our schedule might be a tad chaotic. I make the dressing and wash and cut the fruit and spinach the night before. Assembly takes less than 30 seconds! I often pair this with grilled chicken and baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, or rice pilaf. Perfect for a summer night.
Strawberry Spinach Salad
In a food processor mix:
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon minced onion
1/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Pour over 1 bunch fresh spinach and 1 pint sliced strawberries.
Optional: I used fresh pineapple and blueberries in this particular batch. I also have used nectarines, kiwi, mango, sliced grilled chicken, boiled egg slices, and fresh bacon bits.
What is your simple, go to summer meal?
Blessings sweet friends,
Jenny
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Comments
Betsy
That salad looks delicious!!!!
Our go-to summer meal is Bread Salad. We don’t usually get temps like you do every day, but still it feels like summer when we start having this salad.
1/2-1 full loaf of artisanal bread-my kids prefer sour dough I prefer something whole grain-sometimes I mix, sometimes I just use old bread that we have (old bread is best).
Ripe tomatoes -as many as you want I wish I could say, but it depends on how big they are. The riper the better and I love tomatoes so I use a lot. Diced.
English cucumbers again I just see what I have -If I have two I use two if I have one I use one. I leave the skin on (that is why I use English and not regular). Later in the summer when ours have grown I will use those.
Corn-I use frozen this time of year, but later on I will use fresh uncooked and just toss it in the salad.
Kalamata Olives-coarsely chopped.
1/2 or so thinly sliced red onion-or sweet onion or whatever you want.
I mix all of those things together and basically get their flavors to mix then I add:
Olive Oil – the amount depends on how much other stuff I have used.
Balsamic Vinegar-same as the olive oil-it is to taste.
Salt-I use a good salt-like Hawaiian or a smoked one or something like that-my favorite right now is a wet one that I just sprinkle in.
Pepper-fresh ground of course.
Avocado-I wait until I am going to serve the salad to add this. And I usually add several.
To keep this vegan I might add some chickpeas or not. If it is just for vegetarians I might add some fresh mozzerella balls as well. Sometimes I leave those out and people can add them if they wish.
This salad is best when it is made early in the day and then allowed to sit but I have also loved it when it is freshly made.
Enjoy.
Jenny
Your salad sounds delicious. I definitely would want the mozzarella balls – gotta have cheese (that’s my motto!). I’m putting this on the meal planning schedule for next week – thanks!
Karen
sounds yummy. I use the same dressing recipe and put over asparagus with strawberries and feta cheese. Refreshing barely covers the feeling.
Jenny
Sounds like a perfect combination. I love strawberries and feta together.
Christy Lindvig
Are you a secret food stylist too? That salad looks very appetizing! I’m just not sure I could convince my kids, or my husband for that matter, to eat it…they are so picky!
Jenny
Definitely not a food stylist! The salad is terrific. I have 2 sometimes picky eaters. When I first served this salad years ago, Emily cried because it had ants (poppy seeds). She actually said it was child abuse.