I have a weird thing about salads: I generally don’t like sweet things in them. I’m a savory salad kind of girl. I find most people go nuts over restaurant salads with stuff like cranberries, apples, fruity dressings…that kind of thing. And those salads are so not for me! Give me a good old Caesar salad any day. But, there is one exception. A big old spinach salad with fresh berries is so my jam. Especially during the spring and summer months. It’s so good! I’ve been served a bunch of versions of this salad over the years at restaurants and peoples’ houses. So I started making my own version, and it evolved and evolved until it ended up as this delicious salad I’m sharing with you today, complete with my vegan version of my mom’s poppy seed dressing recipe.
Strawberry Spinach Salad Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need:
Fresh spinach Fresh strawberries Pecans Avocado Poppy seed dressing Salt & pepper
How to Make Strawberry Spinach Salad
Make your dressing first. You can find the complete recipe for the poppy seed dressing here. It’s super easy! Prefer to save time and use a store-bought dressing? I get it! You can look for a bottled poppy seed dressing, or try a balsamic or berry vinaigrette. Any of them would be delicious with this salad. Before assembling the salad you’ll want to clean and hull your berries, chop your pecans, and dice the avocado. Place everything into a big salad bowl, with the spinach on the bottom, everything else on top. Give everything a good toss. Drizzle the salad with poppy seed dressing and toss again. That’s it!
Variations
I often switch up the ingredients in this salad depending on what kind of mood I’m in or what I’ve got on hand. Here are a few versions to try:
Add more fruit. In addition to strawberries, I love adding some blueberries, orange slices, or mango chunks. You can even totally switch out the strawberries with one of these varieties of fruit if you like. Switch up the greens. Spring mix or arugula work great as alternative to the spinach. Switch up the nuts. Walnuts and slivered almonds are delicious in this salad. Add your favorite vegan cheese. Try some store-bought or homemade vegan feta or fresh mozzarella.
This salad is best served right away. If it sits too long the avocado will brown! If you want to do some prep work in advance, chop the nuts, clean and hull the berries, and store everything in separate containers. Dice the avocado right before serving, then add everything to a bowl and toss. Use fresh ingredients, and sweet strawberries! How can you tell if your strawberries are sweet? Look for plump, bright red berries with lots of sweet fragrance. Is this salad gluten-free? It is! Serving ideas! I often make this salad for company and serve it before dinner. Want to make a meal of the salad? Add some protein and bread. Try this lemon & herb baked tofu and this vegan cornbread.
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