Addicted to My Summertime Salad

I picked up what was left of the local strawberries. They were SO juicy that they practically melted in my mouth! Next spring I hope to be more in tune with the short strawberry season and actually go pick some and turn it into freezer jam. But with the few I had I used on a bed of fresh baby spinach from my mom's garden! What a treat!

I toasted chopped pecans, sliced strawberries and crumbled feta cheese. I looked up a recipe for a raspberry vinaigrette only to find out this recipe called for raspberry syrup, something you find in the international isle of the store. Well, I wasn't about to run to the store so I threw in some raspberry jam into my vinaigrette instead. JUST AS DELICIOUS!  Here's the recipe-

Baby spinach or a spring mix
feta cheese
strawberries
chopped,toasted pecans


 Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons vinegar
1 Tablespoon raspberry jam
pinch of salt & pepper

Blend until smooth- Drizzle onto salad quickly. The dressing seemed to separate very fast.  Serve with a smile and get ready to reload that salad plate!

Lemon Dill Cucumber Salad

It's warming up and what a perfect, refreshing salad to go along with dinner! It's really easy but you'll want to eat it fresh- it gets a little soggy after a few days.

2 large cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
cheery tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 lemon, juiced
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar ( or honey)
Fresh dill approximately 3 tablespoons

I first placed the peeled and sliced cucumber in a dish, sprinkled salt over them and left the dish in the frig for 20 minutes. Cucumbers have a lot of water so this helps bring out the juice. Drain and add the sliced onion and tomatoes.
Mix up the mayo, lemon, salt, sugar and dill week. Pour over salad and mix gently. Serve COLD. Enjoy!

How easy is that!?!?!

Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

I was first introduced to this tasty dressing a few years ago by Teresa Straub while we were living in northern Taiwan, teaching English and figuring out how to eat semi-healthy and use the ingredients around us. It's delicious! It goes very well on a huge garden salad with hard boiled eggs.

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
pinch of salt

Mix everything in a blender and store in an airtight container.