Spinach-Strawberry Salad

Summer has arrived here on the East Coast in full force. And that means those sweet ruby gems that are the strawberry are in season and ready to be enjoyed! Strawberry picking is one of my favorite summertime activities. There are only a few weekends in late May and June that you can pick strawberries around here. It’s definitely worth the effort to make time during one of those weekends to go pick your own berries.

I insist on going strawberry picking every year. Since my birthday falls in the middle of June, it’s usually a request that is fulfilled on my birthday weekend. Nothing says summer like picking fresh local strawberries, and obviously taste testing them as you go! We usually comes home with about 15 pounds of strawberries when we go strawberry picking. Once they’re all cleaned and patted dry, we save about 5 pounds to just snack on throughout the week (which never lasts very long). Then I make a variety of goodies with the rest. I usually whip up some jam, bake with some of the strawberries, and inevitably, some end up on a salad.

I know some people have never tried salad with fruit on it, but believe me, it’s delicious. This salad mixes tender spinach, fresh strawberries, and a sweet poppy-seed dressing. Definitely start with a little less sugar than the recipe calls for and taste as you go. Hubby thought the dressing was a smidge too sweet, but I thought it was perfect. I did add a pinch of Kosher salt to the dressing as well. Again, taste as you go and adjust to suit your preferences. The other great thing about this salad is that it could be adapted in a variety of ways. If you don’t have strawberries, it would be delicious with blueberries or even peaches! To make it into an entire meal, the salad would be perfect with some grilled chicken and maybe some crumbled goat cheese on top.

GET THE RECIPE: Spinach-Strawberry Salad