The end of June is a great time to pick strawberries in New England. These berries are ripe and prevalent at this time of year. On a recent weekend morning, my children and I went to a local pick your own farm and in less than 30 minutes had harvested five pounds of sweet, ripe strawberries.
Upon bringing these berries home, I knew I wanted to use them in a new recipe. Having used strawberries in many of the typical recipes: shortcake, jam, fruit salad, sauce for ice cream or waffles, I wanted to make something different. With the heat of summer upon us, I also wanted a recipe that was simple, light, and required no cooking. After perusing several recipes, I took a few ideas, added a few of my own, and arrived at this recipe.
This recipe accentuates the sweetness of the strawberries in contrast with the mesclun and goat cheese. Not only does the salad have a wide range of tastes and textures, it is also visually appealing. The contrast of bright red strawberries, white goat cheese, and varying greens of mesclun make for a beautiful presentation. This salad would be a wonderful part of a collection of romantic dinner recipes.
- 3/4 cup strawberries, washed and hulled
- 2 1/2 Tb. balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tb. extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 6 cups mesclun
- 1 cup strawberries, washed and diced
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 2 oz. goat cheese
- To make dressing, combine 3/4 cup strawberries, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil in a blender and puree.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- To make salad, divide mesclun evenly among 4 salad bowls.
- Top each salad with equal amounts of diced strawberries and sliced almonds.
- Crumble goat cheese and sprinkle on salads.
- Drizzle salads with dressing.
It sounds very tasty!
Very interesting,I had never thought about using Strawberries in a salad before. I’ve used them in cereal but didn’t care that much for the taste, I think I just like them better right out of the package or in Jam & Strawberry Shortcake form.
I’m already drooling, someone give me a napkin!
Sounds delicious! We lost all the strawberries in our garden this year here in Cabot Arkansas because of a frost that came through and killed them. I’d like to try this, even if I have to go buy some.. 😉
What a excellent recipe, I am a big strawberry fanatic, strawberry milk, candles, even strawberry bath salts…now I can have strawberries in my salad! Keep up the great posting!