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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!
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