Strawberry Spinach Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Dressing Recipe

This Strawberry Spinach Salad is magical! A Louisiana Chef recipe, this stunning mixture of substances works superbly: spinach, strawberries, candied pecans, blue cheese and a stunning Strawberry Balsamic Dressing.

My style testers cherished this and I’m formally obsessed!

This salad is an absolute stunner. Visually and style.

Strawberry and balsamic is a mixture I found final 12 months. Like tomato and basil, it simply works. Sweetened balsamic, that’s. Plain balsamic vinegar is just too harsh.

Bringing that flavour mixture right into a salad is unbelievable. I used to be researching on-line for Cajun / Creole salads to finish my 2016 Thanksgiving Feast. I truly needed to browse fairly a bit, studying up on traditional Cajun menus, even testing some restaurant menus.

I actually love doing this – exploring the web’s hidden corners for treasures. As I hunted round, I chanced upon this recipe on a weblog referred to as Round Anna’s Desk. Really, I discovered the recipe identify on a web site referred to as Gumbo Pages however couldn’t discover the recipe so went trying to find one.

This isn’t a salad I might have come up by myself, it’s positively a Cheff-y recipe. And that’s precisely what that is – it’s a recipe by Chef Varnedoe of Baton Rouge’s Restaurant IPO (now closed 🙁 ) which was printed in [url:2]Louisiana Kitchen & Tradition journal[/url].

The Strawberry Balsamic Dressing itself is completely attractive. The candy perfume of strawberries, tartness of balsamic reworked right into a salad dressing. It’s obtained that sweet-salty-tart-fresh factor occurring. I actually prefer it. I made it 3 instances within the house of a fortnight and used it on many salads!

When the Strawberry Balsamic Dressing is mixed with delicate child spinach, contemporary juicy strawberries, creamy salty pops of blue cheese and the candy crunch of candied pecans, and you’ve got a very fabulous salad. My style testers LOVED this!

This Strawberry Salad is a part of my 2016 Thanksgiving Menu. As you might have guessed, this years’ menu is Cajun themed and the star of it’s a genius reader recipe: a one roasting pan Cajun Baked Turkey Breast and Dressing / Stuffing recipe. The total menu is printed within the Turkey recipe. 🙂

Usually I’m very versatile about substitutions in recipes. This is likely one of the few exceptions. I made this Strawberry Salad final weekend for pals, switching the blue cheese for goats cheese and with out utilizing candied pecans. Whereas they stated they appreciated it, they didn’t rave about it like my Thanksgiving Menu Style Testers.

I started to doubt myself so I made it once more yesterday, precisely because the recipe is written. It’s stellar. The blue cheese can’t be substituted or omitted and the sweetness of the candied pecans is crucial for the whole expertise!!!

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Dressing Recipe

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Serves: 4 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 5 minutes 5 minutes

Nutrition facts: 387 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• 250 g / 8 oz fresh strawberries , tops cut off
• 3/4 cups balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 tbsp brown sugar , packed (light brown)
• 2 tbsp strawberry jam or preserves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup pecans (mostly whole, can chop some)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar (any)
• 2 tbsp / 30 g butter
• 4 cups baby spinach , packed
• 16 (250 g / 8 oz) large strawberries , sliced
• 75 - 100 g / 2 - 3.5 oz blue cheese , crumbled (to taste)
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Whizz Dressing ingredients in a food processor or blender. Strain if desired (to remove little strawberry seeds). Keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
2. Pecans: Line a tray with parchment / baking paper. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add pecans, toss to coat. Add sugar and stir for 5 minutes. The sugar will melt and coat the pecans. Pour onto tray, spread out, allow to cool - it will harden.
3. To serve, place the spinach and half the strawberries in a bowl and drizzle over a bit of Dressing. Toss gently, then transfer to a serving bowl. Top with remaining strawberries, then drizzle with more Dressing. Crumble over blue cheese and scatter with pecans. Serve immediately, with remaining Dressing on the side!

Notes

1. Adapted from a recipe by Chef Varnedoe of Baton Rouge’s Restaurant IPO (now closed 🙁 ) which was published in Louisiana Kitchen & Culture magazine, found via Around Anna's Table.
2. Recipe makes more dressing that you need, but I find it harder to make less in a food processor. You could half the recipe if you have a small food processor. It keeps well for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
3. Nutrition per serving, assuming 1/2 the dressing is used.