Salute Spring! Strawberry Salad with Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing

Join us as we Salute Spring with this series featuring the finest fruits and vegetables of the season. Written by Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Strawberries. The name alone makes my mouth start to water. When they’re in season they can be as sweet as candy. Except so much better.

Here in Norway, they’re one of the first fruits to show up in the produce aisle (even before rhubarb!) when spring rolls around, a sure sign that summer is on it’s way.

I have an early childhood memory of stumbling upon some wild strawberries on the top of a hill. They were so teeny tiny but I remember them being the best strawberries I had ever tasted. I’m sure in the mind of a four year old discovering wild strawberries and picking them on your own automatically qualifies them as tasting The Best!

That’s why this year I’m planning on taking my son strawberry picking. We live in an apartment and therefore don’t have a garden and I would love for him to experience the wonder of picking and eating something for himself.

There will be plenty of preserving going on as per Aimée’s many freezing methods, along with a variety of different jams. But, the way I like to enjoy strawberries most in the spring and early summer is in their fresh state.

I concentrate on making recipes that call for fresh berries, which I can’t make any other time of year. The recipes I love that can use frozen berries I tend to leave for winter months.

Strawberry Salad with Sugared Almonds

This salad is a great way to enjoy those fresh berries. You get a double dose of strawberry goodness with a good drizzle of Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing.

I also love adding the crunch of homemade sugared almonds. They add a little bit of pizazz and compliment the strawberries so well. This is my favorite way to add strawberries to the main meal instead of just dessert.

  • 130g salad greens
  • 1 cup sliced strawberries
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing

To make the sugared almonds:

  1. Heat a small non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add sugar and almonds.
  2. Cook and stir until nuts are golden and coated with the melted sugar.
  3. Spread on a sheet of foil to cool.

To serve:

  1. Toss together salad greens and strawberries, top with almonds. Serve with Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing.

Serves: 4

Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing

As with most dressings this gets better as it sits in the fridge. So if you can, make it a couple of hours ahead of time, although it still tastes delicious when served right away.

  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 3/4 cup sliced strawberries
  • 3/4 teaspoon poppy seeds
  1. Place vinegar, sugar, salt and mustard in a blender. Pulse to mix together.
  2. With blender running, slowly drizzle in oil until mixture is creamy.
  3. Add strawberries and process until smooth. Stir in poppy seeds.
  4. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Come join The Salad Social at TidyMom sponsored by The International Olive Council’s Add Some Life!

What’s your favorite way to enjoy fresh strawberries?

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35 Comments

  1. I’m so glad strawberries are in season again! I like them plain or sliced up on vanilla ice cream.

  2. This sure screams spring! We’re lucky to be able to get sweet strawberries already in Southern California. Love this sort of salad- it’s great tossed with fresh spinach too!

  3. Strawberry picking starts here in New Jersey next week, and the kids are counting the days. My favorite way to enjoy strawberries, when they are in season locally, is on a tree stump at the orchard – fresh picked and hot from the sun. I rinse them off using a bottle of water I bring along to the orchard, settle down on the closest stump, and indulge.

  4. That salad sounds absolutley delicious!

    I’ve been meaning to post a comment regarding strawberries, because this week I scored ORGANIC strawberries at my grocery store for $.56 a pound! They were in the marked down section. I was able get 7 pounds. We ate some fresh but I froze the rest for smoothies. They were all good, just needed to be dealt with that day. I couldn’t believe getting them for so little! Normally the marked down fruit and vegetables at my grocery store have a layer of mold growing on them (seriously) so I was happy to see some good fruit there. I wouldn’t have looked, except for the saving money series that was recently run here. Thanks for the tips! 🙂

  5. Hi Cheri,
    I love your recipe.
    But, I find it a little bit strange what you saying about locally strawberries in Norway.
    When I lived In Norway, rhubarb was always first in the garden and local strawberries would only be available around Midsummer (24 of June).
    Ha en god sommer !
    Kari

    1. Unfortunatly I don’t have my own garden. 🙁 The shops around us have had in-season strawberries for a few weeks now but I seem to have a really hard time finding rhubarb till end of May. I usually shop at Meny or Rimi.
      Deg også! 🙂

  6. Cheri,
    Strange about the rhubarb, you have to grow it your self (-: It is fun and easy.

    Your strawberries might be in season, but I do not think they are from Norway,maybe Holland.

    Kari

  7. Our local pick-your-own has already closed, but not before we stocked up on 8lbs of strawberries! I love the sound of this dressing – and I love the soft pink color 🙂

  8. When you say “ground mustard” do you mean powder or a type of prepared mustard? I usually don’t eat any kind of mustard, so I’m clueless in this area 🙂

  9. Looks absolutely delish! Is there a reason why you chose to go with dry powdered mustard? Or can I substitute for grainy dijon?

    1. Mostly because I didn’t want the flavour to overpower the strawberries. But I’m sure you could substitute with regular mustard. Whatever suites your fancy. 🙂

  10. I just made a spinach salad w/ strawberries and poppy seed dressing for our Teachers Appreciation luncheon at my sons school. I love it! Sugared nuts add a nice touch. It is so refreshing a Spring-like!

  11. Yum! We had this tonight! I came to SB looking for a spinach salad dressing recipe, and wouldn’t you know, this post was right here waiting for me. 🙂

    I made it with raw honey in place of sugar and grapeseed oil in place of the canola. It was so delicious on our salad of spinach, red onions, walnuts, strawberries & bits of turkey bacon.

    Thanks!!!

  12. I just made this dressing today for lunch…. yum! it may very well replace my other strawberry salad dressing recipe, which uses strawberry jam.

    The only thing I may change next time I make this is to cut back the sugar a bit. I found it a bit unnecessary with fresh strawberries being sweet enough.