Tried & True Recipe: Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

This is a really lovely salad and a new favorite of mine.  Perfect timing as we're in prime berry season!  It's so delicious because it has a wonderful balance of flavors.  You have the tender greens, bright, juicy pops of flavor from the berries, tang from the blue cheese, crunch from the crisp bacon, a delicious creaminess from the avocado, and it's all perfectly complemented by the sweet, tangy poppyseed dressing.  It's a snap to throw together with seasonal ingredients this time of year and is also tasty with some added grilled chicken to make it a little heartier as a main dish.  Give it a try!


Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing
Inspired by Lauren's Latest


For the dressing:

2T mayonnaise
1/2 T sugar
1/2 T white vinegar
1/8 t poppyseeds
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine ingredients and set aside.


For the salad:

2 big handfuls spinach and spring mix (or all spinach, or all spring greens, or baby kale, whatever you'd like!)
2-4 strawberries (depending on size) sliced (also delicious with blueberries!  I have both in the salad pictured above.)
1 piece cooked bacon, crumbled
1 tablespoon crumbled blue cheese
1/4 avocado, cut into large dice
Diced grilled chicken (optional)


Layer greens with strawberries, bacon, blue cheese, and avocado.  Drizzle with dressing.

Recipe as written yields one full-sized salad with more than enough dressing.  Leftover dressing can be refrigerated for future use.  Recipe can easily be scaled up to serve 2 or more.


Enjoy!