Spinach Strawberry Salad with Lemon Poppyseed Dressing

Bright, fresh, vibrant, crunchy, juicy, colourful…this salad has so many adjectives!

Summer salads are the best combination of crunchy fresh veg, and in season fruit.  Why leave the fruit out when it isn’t better than right now, from June till September? Plus, since we do truly eat with our eyes first, adding all the Crayola hued fruit slices and berries just makes these salad a visual feast.

There is something so classic about the combination of tender baby spinach leaves and bright red sweet juicy strawberries.  The spinach isn’t overly peppery or bitter, just the right amount of mild sweet flavour to combine with the sweetness of the berries.  So this is a great starting point for a salad fit for company.

What Fruit Can I Use?

We already know that strawberries are in this salad, they are in the title after all!  But why stop at strawberries?  If you love the sweet pop of blueberries, use them!  Raspberries, blackberries, even kiwi would work.  Later in the season why not include sliced peaches, plums or figs?  In the winter, this same salad would work great with citrus, dragon fruit, even persimmon.

The Savoury Components

It is a salad, so here is what I love adding to a spinach salad like this.  First…spinach, duh! Red onions or shallots are also a given.  These keep the salad from feeling like dessert. I love the crunch of nuts.  Pecans or walnuts are great.  But if you like almonds or hazelnuts, use them instead.  In all cases, dry roasting them first will bring out more flavour, they won’t taste flat.  Just a few minutes in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant and turning golden is enough to release the oils and increase the flavours of the nuts.

For a creamy and yet nutty addition, go with some cheese.  Feta, goat cheese, even bocconcini or Manchego will work.  I think blue cheese is a great addition in the Autumn and Winter. And in the summer, my favourite creamy addition is avocado. Between the nuts and cheese/avocado, we have some creamy textures that are a great contrast to the onions and spinach.  Feel free to use the ones that appeal to you.  I wouldn’t necessarily use them all at the same time, but this is the joy of a salad, there really aren’t too many rules!  So do what feels good.  Especially if you are making this salad your main meal, you may want the nuts, cheese and avo all in the same bowl.

My Master Lemon Poppyseed Dressing

This dressing is sooooo easy to whip up, and it will work on all the variations of this salad.  In fact, it will work on just about any salad you are in the mood to make.  It will take plain iceberg lettuce and make it taste wonderful!

You couldn’t ask for a more simple list of ingredients.  Olive oil, lemon juice, honey, poppyseeds, and mustard.  And my secret ingredient: aged white balsamic vinegar!  I’ve been talking about it a lot these days.  It does everything you want an exceptional balsamic vinegar to do, it is sweet, with the slightest tang, an aged one is syrupy, and best of all, it doesn’t turn anything you add it to muddy.  This is the one reason I rarely use a red balsamic vinegar.  It always seems to mess up a clean plate.  The flavour is great, but the visual is off-putting, to me at least.  The dressing doesn’t need any salt or pepper, the mustard really does bring enough of a kick.  But feel free to add some if you want.  Or just sprinkle the salad with fresh coarsely ground pepper at the end, that’s what I do.

While you can totally whisk everything together in a bowl with a small whisk, I suggest using an immersion blender and a tall mason jar.  This creates the best, most creamy version, with everything blended perfectly, no separating.  Make it in advance and store in the fridge.  It will cover all your salad needs for the week.  Just remove from the fridge and let it rest on the counter to become pourable again.  The oil does firm up in the fridge, so it needs to warm up to loosen the dressing again.

How Much of Each Ingredient?

As with most of my salad recipes, I try to explain the method more than the exact amounts needed.  I usually decide how much to use based on how many I am feeding.  I can count on a large handful of spinach leaves per person (adjust for children etc).  Yes, I will tell you how much of the berries, onion, blueberries, avocado etc to use.  But come on, if you really love strawberries, why stop at what is in the recipe?  If you only have a large avocado, then use as much as you want.  Same goes for the nuts, blueberries and red onion.  I’ll leave it to you, you know whom you are feeding better than I do.  But as long as this salad is a good jumping off point, then you’re off to the races.

Enjoy the summer, and all the salads!  Here are some other warm weather salads and dressing to give a try: Spring Pea Salad with Mint Vinaigrette,   Melon and Feta Tetris Salad with Honey Lemon Vinaigrette,  BLT Orzo Salad

5 from 3 votes

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Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Lemon Poppyseed Dressing

All the bright colours of summer in a crunchy vibrant and easy salad to throw together. This Poppyseed Dressing is the last one you will need, it is creamy, fresh, and works just about anywhere, even as a dip!

Course Salad

Cuisine North American

Keyword avocado, lemon poppyseed, pecans, spinach, strawberries

Prep Time 20 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

Spinach Strawberry Salad

• 4 cups packed baby spinach, cleaned and trimmed, torn in half if the leaves are large
• 1 1/2 cups cleaned and sliced strawberries, use more if you want!
• 1 small or medium avocado, cubed into bite sized pieces (use as much as you desire)
• 1/4-1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/3 cup pecan halves
• flakey salt and coarse ground pepper for finishing

Lemon Poppyseed Dressing

• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp poppyseeds
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp runny honey
• 1 tsp white balsamic vinegar

Instructions

Lemon Poppyseed Dressing, can be made in advance

1. Combine all the ingredients in a mason jar. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth and well combined. It will be perfectly creamy! If you don't have an immersion blender feel free to use a hand whisk, or even a small Nutribullet type blender.
2. Store in the fridge till needed. Remove before using to allow the olive oil to return to room temperature so that the dressing is loose enough to use.

Assemble the Salad

1. One either a serving platter or bowl, or into individual bowls, place the spinach. Top with berries, avocado, onion, and pecan halves. If you are assembling in advance, feel free to spritz the avocado with a bit of fresh lemon juice to help retain the colour.
2. Drizzle with the dressing, finish with some salt and pepper.
3. The salad components can actually be prepared and stored in the fridge as long as they aren't dressed.

4. See blog post for more details.