Last week The Arugula Files posted about a delicious-sounding salad with arugula, strawberries, and feta with a red wine vinaigrette. Both visually and taste-wise, strawberries really do make a great addition to salads. Their sweet, tart flavor is a pleasing contrast to both mild and bitter salad greens, and they also pair well with other things likely to be found in salads, such as vinegar, herbs, and cheese.
Salad was an especially good use for my strawberries this past Saturday, when I wanted to share the literal fruits of my garden, but didn’t have anywhere near enough to make a dessert with. We halved the strawberries and peas pictured above and tossed them into a bowl of mixed salad greens from my garden.
I also made sure to include a lot of fresh basil leaves in with the salad greens. I’ve had cocktails at trendy bars that combined the flavors of strawberry and basil, so I figured if the combo works in a martini, it could work in a salad. The dressing was a simple balsamic and olive oil vinaigrette with a little salt and pepper, with some chive flowers thrown in for extra kick.
The salad was delicious, and oddly enough it got better as it sat in the sun while we ate it. I think the heat helped unlock even more herb and strawberry flavor. Along with some brewed green tea mixed over ice with Trader Joe’s mango lemonade, this meal helped our Memorial Day Weekend get off to a tasty and healthy start.
You are so fortunate to have strawberries and basil, already. I’ll need to look back at your post a few weeks from now.
Nice looking salad… I wish we could grow strawberry here. ~ bangchik
Oh, YUM!!! Wonderful salad idea!
I planted Tri-Stars this year. (Ones from years ago died out.) It just about kills me to follow the instructions to pinch off all blossoms of first-year plants until July 1, in order to strengthen their roots. Each pinched blossom seems like a lost berry. I hope I will get to indulge in delayed gratification.