gettin' fresh: strawberries

As promised I'm going to post some more garden fresh (or at least farmer's market/grocery store fresh produce) recipes for you all. I thought about making this a fixation friday post because honestly I'm totally obsessed with this recipe right now. So much so in fact I've eaten this side for lunch for two weeks straight, every day that we are home (and/or have the ingredients).

This obsession started last year while at a local Cafe eating lunch. They have their signature Red, White and Blue salad. It's amazing. At first I thought I was just obsessed with the dressing - it's a sticky, sweet, poppy seed mixture and goes so well with the salad, and to be honest when soaked up with what's left of your BBQ sandwich (or any Cafe sandwich) is equally as tasty!

Fairly Realistic Photo of the Salad in Question

via google

The cafe's salad is similar to this one here, minus the red onions although I like that idea, a lot. I'm newly in love with raw red onions, which is shocking it's taken me over 30 years to be into onions at all.  After my cafe salad obsession escalated, I started to make my own variation of this at home, a) to save money and b) to make it more P90X diet friendly. So here goes...

"D2BD's Paired Down Version of 

the Red, White and Blue Salad"

via google • looks more like mine but with spinach 

and not "forest floor greens"

Ingredients

• Ripe Strawberries (approx. 3-4 large/salad serving)
• Ripe Blueberries (approx. 1-2 handfuls/salad serving)
• 1-2 cups of your favorite salad greens (recipe will work well with mixed greens or even just simple romaine lettuce, spinach or whatever the darker the better
• OPTIONAL ADDITIONS: Chopped walnuts or almonds, crumbled bleu or feta cheeses, red onions and honestly even bacon would taste dreamy on this salad. I don't add these at home but the salad at the cafe has walnuts (ok by me) and bleu cheese crumbles (which I try to request not be added because frankly, bleu cheese makes me gag!).
• DRESSING: Vinaigrette of choice. The one I've found that works amazing is pictured below. I wish I knew the recipe for the sweet poppy seed dressing but honestly I know it's not good for me so the less I know the better off I am.

Directions

1. Chop up strawberries to desired size, place salad greens on plate, sprinkle on the strawberries and handful(s) of blueberries - add desired toppings and dressing.
2. ENJOY!

{note: when I am preparing this for my p90x diet I measure everything, the notes above are more relaxed and casual for anyone making it at home. I can only have one serving of fruit a day and I choose to have it at lunch currently because I'm OBSESSED with this salad - and I always, always measure the dressing and take the calories into consideration. See I told you diet talk was boring!}

NOM, NOM, SLURPPP, NOM!

Brianna's Home Style Blush Wine Dressing • via google

This stuff is AMAZING! It's a Blush Wine Vinaigrette and is SO SO good on the strawberries. This is the first dressing I've tried from this line but I really want to try more. According to the website they make all of the varieties in small batches in order not to compromise taste and quality. Word of caution, use this dressing sparingly. Two tablespoons is the serving size which is more than enough for your salad but it's delicious and would be easy to get carried away with it. Yes, it IS a vinaigrette and low in fat but it does have a 120 calorie count per serving so if you're counting calories you might want to stick with a lighter choice. I've been thinking about trying a Raspberry Vinaigrette with this salad since I've seen a few more lighter options in the market.

MORE GREAT CHOICES FROM BRIANNA'S FINE SALAD DRESSINGS

These all look great and I love the "no fail" proof design. The featured fruit or veggie on the label is what the dressing tastes best on or with. I really want to try the poppy dressing that goes well with peaches. I think grilling some stone fruit and drizzling a little of that one it would be DELICIOUS!

I hope if you guys make this salad and enjoy it you'll let me know. Any great salads you have and want to toss my way I would love to hear it. Feel free to contact me via email and let me know! I'm all ears and waiting with a hungry belly!