Strawberry and Spinach Salad

Strawberry and Spinach Salad

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This isn’t the most original recipe in the world. Variations with poppyseeds and a sickly sweet dressing have been gracing the pages of women’s magazines for decades. But when Mom says she wants a spinach salad for Mother’s Day, Mom gets a spinach salad. And when she requests my raspberry vinaigrette, she gets that too.

Now, had she requested ranch dressing, I’d have gone the bacon route. But she said raspberry, so I took the fruit theme and ran with it.

When I saw the strawberries in the supermarket, they looked too good to resist. Imported from California, these beauties landed such a giant of a carbon footprint I could practically hear “Fee-fi-fo-fum” when I placed the box in my cart. But it was for Mother’s Day, and so I thought Mother Earth might not mind. Just this once.

Incredibly simple, this salad is crisp, crunchy, sweet and tangy, all at once. It’s not cloying like some of the poppyseed versions I’ve tried. It also takes all of 10 minutes to make, and most of that time is spent hulling and slicing strawberries. Brighten the dish with wash-and-go raspberries and the prep time gets cut in half. And this includes the whole 45-seconds it takes to whip up the dressing.

What foods did you celebrate Mother’s Day with? Did you go decadent or healthy?

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Strawberry and Spinach Salad
Printable Recipe
Serves 6

For dressing

  • 1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1/3 cup raspberries, crumbled (frozen and defrosted works best)
  • 1/4 tsp salt (more if you like, I tend to under-salt things)
  • 1 tsp sugar (you can use honey or maple syrup if you wish)

For salad

  • 1 bunch baby spinach, washed
  • 1 cup sliced almonds, toasted
  • 1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced

Instructions

  1. Put all salad dressing ingredients together in a 1 cup mason jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well to blend.
  2. Trim spinach stems, leaving them as long or short as you like. Wash spinach and spin dry.
  3. Lightly toast the almonds in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Stir often and be sure to remove the almonds before they are toasted to your liking since they will continue to cook on their own for a couple of minutes.
  4. Wash, hull and slice the strawberries.
  5. Toss strawberries gently with the spinach. Sprinkle with the almonds.
  6. Serve immediately with dressing on the side.
  7. Have individuals drizzle dressing on their own serving since too much tossing breaks down the berries.

No Comments
  • jordan
    Posted at 14:00h, 11 May

    My mom makes something like this! Yum!

  • Marta
    Posted at 16:52h, 11 May

    Well, it needn’t be complicated to be delicious! The colours of this salad are so appealing, plus the tangy and crunch must be perfection against the slightly nutty spinach. I love spinach salads so much, in fact, I don’t ever use lettuce!
    Good blog template 😉

  • cheryl
    Posted at 20:19h, 11 May

    Beautiful colors, lovely salad. I was treated to breakfast in bed yesterday, and then we picked up some picnicky food at the farmers’ market for lunch. We had strawberries, too!

  • danamccauley
    Posted at 20:37h, 11 May

    My son made me a delicious dinner: grilled pork tenderloin, mixed green salad with a yummy dressing he concocted with stuff he blended from the fridge…delish and much better than I realized he could accomplish.

    So thrilled! I bet your mom was, too. Your salad is a classic!

  • Selba
    Posted at 21:39h, 11 May

    What a lovely salad. I wish I could find the raspberry vinegar.

  • Christie's Corner
    Posted at 14:15h, 12 May

    Jordan, I think ALL moms make something like this 🙂

    Marta, I agree. Simple can be wonderful. Like you, I rarely do lettuce anymore.

    Cheryl, I’m glad you were treated to the quintessential Mother’s Day gift — breakfast in bed.

    Dana, your SON made a whole dinner on his own?! Kudos to him (and you for raising such a culinary-savvy young man!)

    Selba, I’m not sure where you live, but here, raspberry vinegar is readily available in the supermarket. I’ll look into a homemade version for you.

  • Holler
    Posted at 13:23h, 13 May

    Sounds lovely! And… i have spinach and strawberries in the fridge 🙂

  • Olga
    Posted at 09:09h, 14 May

    I saw your picture and thought, omg, that looks almost like the salad I made 🙂

    Mine was w/arugula and an addition of mozarella and balsamic glaze.

    Great photos!

  • Christie's Corner
    Posted at 19:20h, 14 May

    Holler, isn’t it nice to have everything on hand? It so rarely happens for me.

    Olga, I hadn’t seen this salad in ages and then saw at least six variations in two days. Love your idea of balsamic. It’s a perfect complement to the berries.