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Our garden is producing a bountiful crop of fresh greens and ripe, flavorful strawberries are plentiful in area stores and at road stands. This light and refreshing salad can be made in 10 minutes or less using these ingredients.
The combination of the slightly salty feta cheese, sweet strawberries and the subtleness of the balsamic dressing provides an interesting alternative to an ordinary tossed salad.
I like to use a variety of lettuce, arugula, beet greens and spinach depending on what is ready to harvest, but you can use whatever greens you prefer or that you have available.
Summer Strawberry Salad6 cups mixed greens or fresh-from-the-garden lettuce and greens
1 cup fresh, ripe strawberries, rinsed, hulled and sliced
½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted (see note)
¼ to 1/3 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing (either your favorite bottled store-bought or make your own dressing with recipe below)
Toss the greens, strawberries, feta cheese and almonds in a large bowl. Just before serving, add the dressing or pass the dressing and allow each person to dress their own salad.
Makes 4 servings
Note: To toast the almonds, place them in a flat pan in a single layer. Place in a preheated 300-degree oven for 4 to 5 minutes or until slightly browned.
Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing¼ teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon dried mustard
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
In a small jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the salt and garlic clove. Shake. Add the mustard and vinegar. Shake until well-blended. Add the olive oil and shake until well-blended. Remove the garlic clove. Store any unused dressing in the refrigerator.
Gretchen Skoloda can be reached at gskol@earthlink.net
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