Strawberry Spinach Salad

5 from 10 votes

My favorite crisp summer salad! Strawberry Spinach Salad is packed with ripe red strawberries, crunchy walnuts, and tangy blue cheese. Top the simple salad off with the Homemade Raspberry Vinaigrette for a sweetly satisfying flavor explosion.

Prep Time15

Total Time15

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Southern

Servings: large salads

Calories: 324kcal

Author: Rachel

Ingredients

Salad

10 oz Spinach mix I use a spinach spring mix.
2 cups Radicchio, chopped Optional, For bright purple color
1 lb Strawberries
4 oz Danish Blue Cheese Crumbles
1 ½ cup Chopped Walnuts
1 cup Cucumber slices

Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

6 oz Raspberries, fresh or frozen Thaw if frozen, rinse if fresh.
1 ½ tablespoon Honey More to taste if you prefer or raspberries aren't as ripe.
⅓ cup Balsamic vinegar Regular or white balsamic vinegar is fine.
2 tablespoon Quality olive oil
pinch Salt
1 tablespoon Lemon juice

Instructions

Completely thaw the raspberries if frozen or rinse fresh raspberries and puree in a blender or food processor.
Place in a cheesecloth and crush through the pulp to remove most of the seeds. If you don't have cheesecloth, you can use a mesh strainer. Make sure the holes are small enough to prevent seeds from straining through. You should yield about ¾ cup of raspberry puree.
Close the cheesecloth and tie it with a rubber band. Squeeze all of the juice out of the raspberries until you have about ¾ cup. If you don't yield ¾ cup, add a little water mix thoroughly with the puree mixture, and restrain the cheesecloth/puree.
Take the ¾ cup of strained pulp and mix with honey, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours to allow flavors to meld.
Wash and spin salad greens. Wash and slice strawberries. Top greens with strawberries, cucumber slices, walnuts, and blue cheese crumbles.
Serve raspberry vinaigrette dressing on the side.

Notes

Salad Dressing Tips

Raspberries tend to dry out in the store or refrigerator, so the amount of juice can vary. If the raspberries look a little dry or wilted, use a bit more.

If you can't get ¾ cup, *in a pinch* add a little water and mix through the cheesecloth/puree.

For thinker dressing

Add up to 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, starting with a teaspoon at a time. In a small bowl, mix equal parts cornstarch and dressing until the cornstarch is well mixed in a slurry. Then mix the slurry thoroughly into the rest of the dressing.

Additional topping options and substitutes

Blue Cheese - substitute Feta or Goat Cheese.
Grape Tomatoes, Avocado, Apple Slices, or Red Onions make great additions if you would like to try them out.
Radicchio - a bright purple lettuce, this is a great addition for both color and a crunchy lettuce texture.

Nutrition