Strawberry Spinach Salad

Strawberry Spinach Salad – fresh spinach, tossed with in-season strawberries, maple-glazed pecans, blue cheese, and a simple balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The perfect salad for spring and summer (and all year round here in Florida!)

Strawberry season in Florida is November through the early part of April. However, in all other parts of the U.S., their growing season is more spring and summer. This week strawberries in my local grocery store are just $.99 and is further proof they’re at their peak season right now! Grab you some for snacking, for freezing, or for this Strawberry Spinach Salad. Either way, they’re bound to be delicious however you choose to enjoy them.

Currently Miami is at 90°F on the last day of June at 11 am. Needless to say the last thing I want to do is turn on the oven and cook. Meals recently have been mainly prepared on the stove and a ‘heat and eat’ kind of night, paired with an amazing salad. My Fried Goat Cheese and Strawberry Salad is delicious, however, no one has time (all the time) to prep the goat cheese prior to making a salad. That’s the best part about salads, with simple swatch outs of the greens, cheese, nuts/seeds, and fruit and you’ve got a brand new salad combination every time! No one wants a boring salad, am I right?

Ingredients: Strawberry Spinach Salad

• Spinach: Rotate your greens to keep from getting bored. Here I used spinach, however, any greens will work. Use what you enjoy and have on hand. Additionally, Chiffonade the spinach leaves so they don’t look like a lettuce leaf at all!
• Strawberries: these really are the star of the salad. Use them when they’re in-season and at their peak!
• Blue Cheese: You really can’t go wrong with whatever cheese you use. Blue cheese can be divisive, however, I like the contrast in flavors here. If you don’t like blue cheese, grab feta and/or goat cheese, anything with cheese will taste great.
• Maple-Glazed Pecans: These are what take your spinach from good to great. Quick to throw together and easily made in advance. Make some and store in your refrigerator to have on hand. You can always use regular pecans, sliced almonds, or pistachios.
• Balsamic Vinaigrette: Opted for a simple balsamic vinaigrette for this salad. Other selections could be a strawberry vinaigrette or even a poppy seed dressing. As in all condiments, some dressings can be high in sodium and added sugar, so create awareness in what you’re selecting if there is a dietary condition you’re managing.

How To Make Strawberry Spinach Salad

1. Prep the maple-glazed pecans ahead of time so you’re ready to ‘throw’ this salad together easily.
2. Assemble the salad: place the spinach, strawberries, blue cheese, and maple-glazed pecans in a large bowl. (Another step, but highly recommend: chiffonade the spinach, so it looks nothing like a leaf. Kids might be more apt to try it if it doesn’t look like a leaf!)
3. Drizzle the dressing when you’re ready to serve and toss together. It really is that simple! OR
4. Plate the salads and serve the dressing on the side.

Variations and Substitutions

No boring salads here! Here are a few ideas to give you endless combinations. Simple swap outs to give you a salad you’ll enjoy and increase your vegetable consumption!

• Replace the blue cheese with either goat cheese or feta cheese. All three pair perfectly with strawberries, so choose the one you like the best.
• Similar to the cheese, the nuts can be switched out as well. Pecans are sometimes the forgotten nut and why I try to incorporate them, however, pistachios or walnuts would go great as well!
• I left the red onion out which is quite common in salads. To help take the ‘bite’ out of raw red onion, soak the red onion in water prior to adding it to the salad, however, red onion can be added.
• Additionally, I didn’t add avocado to this salad. The only reason is that avocado is quite flavorful and I felt it would overpower the flavor of the strawberries. Any time you add avocado to a salad it will provide fiber, flavor, and fullness, which is normally a win win. Adding avocado is another variation, if you have a ripe one ready to use.
• Another salad dressing option is a poppy seed dressing. I’ve used the one from the grocery store and it’s on the sweeter side. Again, it’s an option, but just know it will be sweeter in taste and I didn’t use because i wanted the strawberries to be the star of the show!
• Add some grilled chicken or roasted salmon to this recipe and you’re upping the protein intake at your meal. Add some quinoa or couscous and that’ll be your complex carbohydrate and your full meal. Or leave it simple and have this salad as a side dish.

There really are no wrong combinations with it comes to making salads. If you’re only having lettuce and tomatoes for a salad, start adding more items to make the salad more interesting and nutrient packed! Fruit, cheese, nuts, you really cannot go wrong.

OTHER SALADS

• Fig, Arugula, and Burrata Salad
• Fried Goat Cheese and Strawberry Salad
• Iceberg Wedge Salad
• Copycat Kale Emerald Salad

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