I mentioned on Monday that this salad comes from my sister-in-law Stephanie. She used to make it in my post-marriage, pre-reproductive years, which was also the time when I first discovered this total cooking obsession that has kind of taken over my life in the best way possible. This salad was my first venture into the world of “foodie-ness”–it was not the typical bowl of chopped iceberg and shredded carrots with a bottle of ranch that you so often see at family dinners. It was so simple and yet so incredible–juicy, fresh strawberries in season, crisp cucumbers, tender spinach, and the intensity of toasted almonds combined with the freshness of the Lemon Poppy Seed Vinaigrette totally opened up all these doors for me.
Whenever I’m at Sam’s Club (or Costco, when we lived by one) in March and April and those giant clamshell containers of giant strawberries that are, like, $1 a pound are staring at me, I seriously feel guilty not buying some–it’s almost like puppies in the Walmart parking lot on a Saturday. Since two pounds of strawberries are a considerably smaller commitment than a puppy (and better for my mental health), I usually just buy them. Then I make jam. And strawberry sauce. And salads. Like this one.
You’ll need a bag of spinach,
sliced fresh strawberries, red onion, and cucumbers (peeled or un-peeled, whatever your preference)…
Toasted almonds (just heat them in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until they’re golden and fragrant)…
and one recipe of the Lemon Poppy Seed Vinaigrette. If you want to add a little more protein to serve as a meal, you can also add strips of grilled chicken.
This next part is super hard. You can arrange all the ingredients on individual plates…
or you can just shake everything together and let people serve themselves.  Either way is delicious and easy…
and a great way to use all the fresh ingredients that are starting to become available.
(Well, fresh except for that chicken, which, unless you’re in Portland and are friends with Fred Armisen, probably came from the freezer). Thank you, Brent, for sharing the wonder of Portlandia with us). Strawberry Spinach Salad 1 10-oz. bag fresh baby spinach Toss ingredients together and serve immediately. You can also arrange the ingredients on individual plates for serving.
Recipe from Our Best Bites and Stephanie Jones
1/2-1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 medium cucumber, seeded and sliced (you can peel it first if you want)
1 pint strawberries, sliced
1 c. sliced almonds, toasted
1 recipe Lemon Poppy Seed Vinaigrette
1/2 lb. grilled chicken breasts, sliced or diced (optional)
Isn’t Portlandia hilarious?!
I’m from Portland!!! I love that you put that video on your post! A little piece of our wierd little city. Great recipe, strawberries my fav!
This looks wonderful! And such a break from the norm when it comes to salads! <3 it!
Oh my gosh this is soooo like a salad they make at the MTC when they train the mission presidents and have the General Authorities down. It’s soooo good! Now I’m craving it. Yum! 🙂
Hey I know exactly what you are talking about Adrienne. I worked there too. When did you work there?
I made this tonight for dinner and it’s as delicious as it looks, maybe even more so … it has that wonderful fresh taste of the *Promise of Spring*. The dressing really polishes it off.
Thank You so much, love it! Also made the spinach chicken stromboli from your cookbook today too … also super-great, the flavors layer up so tasty and simple.
This salad looks delicious! And that clip was too funny!
We have been eating this same salad with a variety of dressings for about a decade or so and we just love it. It is a staple now and our kids ask for it frequently. I am the same way about the strawberries at Costco, too – it seems a shame NOT to buy them!
I had this for dinner tonight and it was REALLY good! The husband loved it too =)
I LOVE to add some shredded swiss cheese and mushrooms. I like dried cranberries too…the more sweet the better 😉 I sometimes go as far as sugar coating my almonds too! delish! thanks for sharing! I need to go get the ingredients and make this, soon…very, very soon!
Oh man that looks yummy- love it.
What a coincidence! I was just finishing up my last bit of spinach-strawberry-red onion-cucumber-honey poppyseed salad when I clicked on your blog for this post! I put feta cheese on mine – nice contrast with the sweet strawberries and honey poppyseed dressing. Also, I didn’t have chicken, so I tossed on some chopped steak. That’s why I love this salad; it’s so versatile!
Thank you for posting this yummy looking recipe. I will run to the store today to get the ingredients. I linked it to my blog.
Thanks,
JoAnn
I was so sad when BYU lost last night!!! I thought of you guys!!!
Portlandia… Very funny!
Love that video too. Hilarious! And thanks for a written-down version of this salad. It never comes out for me the same way every time, but one of my favorites! And good reminder about the strawberries at Costco. I’ll have to go get some for Peter’s birthday.
Salad looks wonderful. The video is priceless, had to watch their other antics and forwarded to all my Oregon friends.
Sounds yummy – I just bought some of the strawberries you mentioned last weekend and they are almost gone! Just enough left for my yogurt parfait at lunch. I’ll just have to buy some more this weekend 🙂
Oh and I know this is probably a bazaar question, but do you know what the font names are of the fonts you used for your site? I love ’em.
Melissa- YAY for commenting! I’m so proud of you 🙂
We love the fonts too.
The block one is League Gothic:
http://www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/fonts/7-league-gothic
And I actually can’t think of the names of the other 2 right now!
Ok. Seriously? That Hulu video??? Made my day. And I love this salad. My husband is obsessed with spinach salads lately (weird I know) so I’m sure I’ll be making this soon!! Thank again guys!
p.s Oh and this is the girl from the bountiful book signing who came in with her mom and baby who “never” comments. I commented finally! I’ll try and make it a normal thing now.:)
This looks like the most perfect salad in the world!
Yum! Can’t wait to try this! Just sounds like an amazing combinations of flavors! Picking up the ingredients today.
I have had a salad similar to this but added crumbled gorgonzola cheese. Kicks it up a few more notches. YUMMO!!
This looks delicious. I’m always looking for salads that are different from the norm of iceburg and ranch (not there’s anything wrong with that sort of salad, of course!).
Great salad…way too much chicken info…I will now start naming all the chicken I cook:)
Yum, looks delicious! I always have to buy those strawberries at Costco and they are so tasty!!!
Love this salad and can never make it just right. I’m definitely doing it your way next time! Thanks!
Looks really fresh and yummy! I often get into a salad rut so thank you!
Love fruit in my spinach salads! Yum!
Perfect timing…..I have just began to enjoy the benifits and taste of spinach. The recipe looks yummy!
Sounds super yummy! I have been enjoying strawberries in my salads lately and its a very welcome change 🙂