Dinner Tonight: Spinach Strawberry Salad
I picked up some strawberries up at the Clintonville Farmer's Market and I just couldn't wait to get them home. Real strawberries—the ones that come in early summer—taste so much outlandishly better than what you can find in the grocery store. I wanted to make a dish that would highlight them, but they taste so wonderful by themselves that I was worried that any interference would ruin their natural goodness.
And I was right. The strawberries were delicious and the dressing was fine, but it was hard not to be disappointed by this Whole Foods approved recipe for spinach and strawberry salad. First off, the recipe only called for five strawberries, which made for some meager picking amongst the spinach. We saved the salad with the addition of some crumbled blue cheese—it went better with the dense spinach than the light and fruity vinaigrette.
Any one else have some great strawberry salad recipes that better showcase the delicious fruit?
About the author: Nick Kindelsperger is a co-founder of The Paupered Chef, a blog dedicated to saving time and money while enjoying food in every way possible. He sells wine for a living and lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Spinach Strawberry Salad
- serves 2 -
Adapted from Whole Foods.
Ingredients
1/2 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
6 ounces baby spinach leaves
5 strawberries, sliced
2 ounces blue cheese
Salt and pepper
Procedure
1. Mix together the shallot and raspberry vinegar. Slowly whisk in the oil.
2. Rip the spinach leaves into bite size pieces. Toss in a large bowl. Crumble the blue cheese on top and add the sliced strawberries. Gently mix together.
3. Pour in the dressing. Season with salt and pepper.
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6 Comments:
Only one of the best summer salads you'll ever eat:
This is from the Junior League of Denver's "Colorado Colore" Cookbook:
Spinach and Berries Salad with Dill
Red Wine Vinaigrette
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Salad
1 cup slivered almonds
1 pound baby spinach leaves, trimmed
1 pound baby butterhead lettuce
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
1/2 pint fresh raspberries
1/2 pint fresh blueberries
1/4 cup chopped fesh dill weed
For the Vinaigrette: combine the olive oil, vinegar, sugar, garlic, slat, pepper, dry mustard and onion powder in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake to mix. Chill until serving time.
For the Salad: spread the almonds on a baking sheet. Toast at 350 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes or until golden brown, stirring after 3 to 4 minutes. Let stand until cool. Toss the almonds, spinach, lettuce, green onions, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and dill weed in a large salad bowl. Add the vinaigrette just before serving and toss to coat.
I have made this for family reunions, parties, etc. - mostly for meat-eaters who don't eat salad - and they LOVE it. So good and good for you!
lo82070 at 6:03PM on 06/27/08
I don't want to make anybody 'mad' but my recipe is on my blog.
evilchefmom at 6:27PM on 06/27/08
In my mind the best "strawberry salad" I've ever had came in the form of a summer salad at the Boar's Head Inn, Charlottesville, VA in 1988, dressed with a strawberry vinaigrette. At the time, I was too young and too unwordly, it never occurred to me to ask for the recipe. It will forever live in my mind an on my palate, as one of those pivotal moments in my adolecsence. I don't have the power of recall or story-telling to relate the burst of summer on my tongue or to share the revelation of flavors here to fore unknown to me, but every time I think of summer salads, I think of strawberry fields forever and of the Boar's Head Inn.
wookie at 1:24AM on 06/28/08
From epicurious.
Mixed green salad with strawberry dressing - I used toasted pine nuts instead of walnuts.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/MIXED-GREEN-SALAD-WITH-STRAWBERRY-DRESSING-106831
jackiecat at 6:19AM on 06/28/08
Granted, the Whole Foods recipe is pretty lame, but surely you didn't buy just 5 strawberries at the market? Had I been making this I would have modified and put in a whole basket, most likely, especially after seeing the slices disappear into the mound of spinach as I worked...just got back from the greenmarket with a quart of strawberries all warm from sitting in the sun out there, and some spinach, most of which is destined for a fish en papillote, but seeing this is making me plot a small impromptu spinach-strawberrry salad on the side...
harlem_panadera at 2:30PM on 06/28/08
I won a cookoff contest at the California Strawberry Festival in May with my recipe "Strawberry Gazpacho Salad with Tangy Lime Vinigrette" I would be happy to share it with anyone if they like...
catlick at 2:21AM on 07/14/08