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Don't you just love it when the first local strawberries start appearing?..............
To me, these vibrant, red-to-the-core berries triumphantly herald in the season of delicious, abundant and fabulously fresh summer produce. Here in North Carolina, spring arrived quite early this year and the berries are almost a month ahead of schedule! My husband tends to laugh a bit and shake his head any time I say this about some new culinary technique I've learned or some beautiful fresh produce I've found but I have to declare that "I'm thrilled out of my mind!" about the strawberries arriving. 🙂
I thought a celebration was in order so I created this delightful, simple salad. I used arugula and some fun local greens but the salad is very adaptable to whatever greens you have. I added the lovely fresh strawberries along with sweet mango, cucumber and edamame. The dressing is sweet and just a bit spicy (not hot) including cumin and coriander, both common in South American cuisine. A scatter of roasted, salted sunflower seeds adds a bit of crunch with each bite. We love this salad and I have the feeling we'll be enjoying it frequently during this delicious strawberry season!
Mixed Green Salad w/ Strawberries, Mango, Edamame & Honey-Lime Dressing
Ingredients for dressing:
¼ cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
⅓ cup honey
1 teaspoon crushed coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
8 cups mixed greens, see note*
½ cup cilantro sprigs**
½ medium English (seedless) cucumbers, sliced in half lengthwise, then sliced on a long angle
½ medium mango, cut in bite size pieces
12 med strawberries, sliced
½ cup edamame
¼ cup roasted, salted sunflower seeds
Directions:
1. Place all salad dressing ingredients in a medium size glass jar and shake well. Store in refrigerator. Keeps for several weeks.
2. For salad, combine greens on 4 salad plates. Arrange strawberries, mango and edamame decoratively, drizzle with dressing and scatter with sunflower seeds. ENJOY!!
Notes:
~ *Feel free to use all one type of greens or combine colors and textures. I used arugula combined with some fun local greens that I found. Baby spinach, artisan or bib lettuce would all be delicious!
France@beyondthepeel says
What a beautiful vibrant salad. I just love the crushed coriander in the dressing. I love finding surprise pieces of it in every other bite!
Vicki Bensinger says
Chris this looks so pretty. I can't seem to get enough strawberries lately. Pretty soon I'm going to look like I'm going through puberty. Too many strawberries always make my skin break out regardless of my age, and only strawberries, it's odd, but I love them. I also really like this salad dressing. Nice spices in it to give the salad some real zip!
lena says
what a cheerful looking salad. i'm quite bad when it comes to dressing a salad, so very excited seeing this dressing and also the previous avocado vinaigrette.
Sécotine says
I'm in love with the colors of your first picture ! Such a plate is enough to feed me ... in my minds !
Tricia @ saving room for dessert says
This salad is absolutely beautiful! Love your blog - can't wait to see more. I will make this dressing soon - sounds great. Thanks for stopping by!
Eri says
If you could see me right now, you could see the joy into my eyes!
What a wonderful site!!!
FiSh. ohFISHiee says
the honey-lime dressing looks good with the salad 🙂 for chinese, i'd prefer some plum dressing for more sweet and sour hints
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Dining Alone says
I absolutely love fresh strawberries, this is a great way to enjoy them in a savory dish!
Inside a British Mum's Kitchen says
Whenever I need a good salad I know where to look!! wonderful and elegant!
mary x
The Café Sucré Farine says
Hi Aimee, I have a crazy mind that is constantly thinking of new combinations of ingredients to try! Sometimes I wake up in the morning thinking of a new recipe, crazy, huh? It's just the way He wired me 🙂 Anyway, about the dressing, it will keep for several weeks - the vinegar and lime juice in this one will keep it fresh for quite a while - if you have fresh herbs in the dressing, the shelf life is shorter, up to a week. The dressing I posted last week with the avocado will last up to about 5-6 days. It just depends on the ingredients - hope that helps!
Aimee Christian says
Hey Chris, made this dressing tonight. It was a little heavy on the cumin for me, but otherwise I enjoyed the tastes. I used key limes for the lime juice and red balsamic for the white (I never seem to have that when I need it!) I was wishing I had strawberries like yours, but instead it was red peppers and pecans with the avocado. Thank you as always for creating!
Aimee Christian says
How do you come up with these combinations??? I'm loving this one because I adore strawberries and soy beans. I'm gonna have to try this. Question? How long do your homemade dressings usually keep. I want to start getting more into making my own.
The Mom Chef says
I've never been able to put together anything but my dad's salad, but you make them look so amazing. The combination of textures, flavors and fruit to vegetable is perfect.
Shu Han says
those are some gorgeous colours!
Lacy @ NYCityEats says
Strawberries are my absolutely favorite fruit out there! You can use them in so many ways and I love the idea of throwing some sliced strawberries in a salad for Spring & Summer! Sounds and looks incedible!
Kim says
Is summer here????? I looks alike! Your salad looks really amazing Chris! I woulb be a perfect lunch for me!
Veronica Miller says
I usually can't stand fruit on salad unless it's fruit salad, but this I would love. What a beautiful salad, to boot!
Food, Fun and Life in the Charente says
Now the weather is warming up this is just perfect for a meal. I love the idea of the added lime juice as well. Diane
Claire @ Claire K Creations says
Oh Chris I can't even look at this too closely. Strawberries are at the end of their season here and I'm already missing them. Have some for me!!
Jen @ Peanut Butter and Peppers says
Your salad looks fantastic! I love that strawberries are coming back in season. I actually have some that are ripe in my yard right now. I have to give your dressing a try, I rarely make my own and it's so much better than store bought.
Chatty Crone says
Now that looks beautiful- not only to see but to eat. sandie
Hovkonditorn says
Lovely, delicious and fresh! Edamame is really good!
Marina@Picnic at Marina says
Mmmmm, so good! And so beautiful! Good luck with your taxes!
The Harried Cook says
That's a GORGEOUS salad... LOVE the colors in there... and the mango & strawberry is my favorite bit! And the crunchy sunflower seeds... actually I love all of it 🙂 Thanks for sharing!