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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Berrylicious Summer Salad

This sweet and savory berry salad combines all the delicious flavors of summer together in one bowl....the perfect side dish for your next party, picnic, or Memorial Day celebration!


I will never forget the time, several years ago, when Jorden told me I really needed to cut back on all the fruit I was buying. Too expensive! he said. And I just laughed at him. Because I am CRAZY about fruit....and it's insanely good for you....and if there's anything I'm going to cut back on, it's not going to be fruit! (Sorry, Jorden.)



Living in the Midwest, good fruit can often be hard to come by. For much of the year, we are limited to apples, oranges, bananas, and pears (oh - and strawberries - if you want to spend $5 a pound and have them taste like nothing!) So when summer rolls around, and all the fruits come out of hiding, I'm like a little kid in a candy shop. And so are my kids! We usually just enjoy it "as is" or dump it all into a big bowl and call it fruit salad....but this time around I decided to take a more sophisticated approach.


I imagined all the things I would want in a sweet & savory spinach salad....and then just left out the spinach. Strawberries, blueberries, walnuts, feta cheese, homemade balsamic vinaigrette.....can you get any more sophisticated (or any more delicious!) than that? I dare you.


In the interest of full disclosure, I have to tell you that my 6 year old daughter and our 9 year old neighbor, though skeptical, both tried the salad and really liked it! But when Jorden tried it, he wasn't a huge fan. I actually knew that would be the case - he's not a big sweet & savory kind of guy. And/or I'm starting to think he might really have something against fruit. Or.... maybe....just the cost of fruit! (Yes, Jorden.....I am laughing at you. And, for the record, this salad is amazing!)


Berrylicious Summer Salad
2 c. fresh blueberries
2 c. fresh strawberries, cut into eighths
1 c. chopped walnuts
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 c. balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing 
3/4 c. olive oil
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. minced red onion
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. pepper
(*Adapted from The America's Test kitchen Family Cookbook: Basic Vinaigrette recipe)
   

Enjoy!

Looking for another delicious recipe using fresh summer ingredients? Check out my Red, White & Basil Dip!




Thanks for taking a peek inside my Lemon Tree Dwelling...
I hope you feel right at home!
-Cathy

26 comments :

  1. This salad IS amazing to see and to eat. Thanks for sharing. ☺

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  2. Wow, that looks great. The fruit with the balsamic dressing sound like an amazing combination. And then the walnuts and feta.. fuhgettaboudit! Perfect for Memorial Day!

    And who doesn't like fruit?? That's like not liking cookies. Or pizza! It's just not right..

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  3. I think balsamic vinegar was MEANT for fruit! So good together. I spend way too much on fruit too, I think half my cart is filled with fruit each week! Love this salad!

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  4. Yum! You're genius and Jorden IS crazy! I will be eating this salad this weekend.

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  5. I love how your recipes introduced me to balsamic on fruit. This looks so good again. I swear, I'm going to gain 1000 pounds reading your blog - so much goodness! We go through TONS of fruit and like you, most of our year is spent eating bananas, oranges and the "non dirty dozen" (kiwi, cantaloupe, etc). We love when we can get fresh, local berries! It's coming!!! Yay!

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  6. There is nothing that says summer more than a berry salad! Yum!
    I am your newest follower, found you via the linkup.
    www.captivatingcorner.com

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  7. Hi, this sounds so good and I am always making berry salad but never thought to make it like that.
    Julie from julieslifestyle.blogspot.com

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  8. Hi Cathy.
    Wow this looks amazing. I love blueberries in anything. I saw your salad on Manic Mondays
    Also May is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I'm inviting everyone to drop by and read about prevention and early detection. I hope you will take a couple of minutes to visit. Women have to support women in the fight for the cure. Please stop by if you can.
    All my best
    Angel @ sewcraftyangel.blogspot.com

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  9. Yum! Found over at The Flamingo's Linky party and pined ya.

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  10. I had to click on this because your picture made it look so delicious! Bet that was yummy and gets eaten up fast!

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  11. These looks amazing, Cathy! Love it!

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  12. This sounds delish!! I think I take for granted how easy and cheap it is to get good fruit year round in CA. And I still complain about it in winter, lol.

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  13. Yummy! All of your recipes look so good today!!

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  14. Yummy yummy yummy who doesn't love a good salad in the summer time?

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  15. oh my gosh, this is a terrible thing to look at past midnight! Now I'm hungry! Looks delicious, thanks for sharing! I'm gonna have to try it! I popped over from Make it Pretty Monday!

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  16. Oh my gosh I love fruit too! I think I'm going to try this with goat cheese instead of feta, mostly because I would eat goat cheese straight if it wasn't so fatty! I'm pinning this! Also, have you tried other fruits yet? Like oranges/pineapple?

    www.domesticblisssquared.com

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  17. Oh my! Cathy I want to have breakfast, dinner and lunch at your house! Yummy!

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  18. Cathy,
    This looks delicious. I love blueberries and I feta is my favorite cheese. I'll have to try it. I'm pinning to make soon!
    Wanda Ann @ Memories by the Mile

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  19. Love all the berries combined with nuts and cheese! Pinned to make as soon as our Spring start in September :-) Thank you for sharing your delicious recipe at the WEDNESDAYS ADORNED FROM ABOVE Blog Hop !

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  20. Your salad sounds divine. I love the sweet and savory mix. This is the perfect summer salad. Thanks for sharing on Thursdays Treasures.

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  21. Yet another yummy dish! Thanks again for sharing on Much Ado About Monday!

    Karla
    www.huckleberrylove.com

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  22. Yum! Thanks for sharing.

    Bevin @ WhoNeedsaCape.com

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  23. Wow! What a great salad! Thanks so much for sharing at last week's All My Bloggy Friends! I can't wait to see what you share this week :)

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  24. This salad looks oh so delish! Thank you for sharing on Blog Stalking Thursday! I have featured your project on Blog Stalking Thursday Features YOU! The post is going live later tonight. I would love for you to stop by and grab a feature button. Thanks again for sharing!

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  25. Featured YOU on my blog this week in my 25+ Berry Recipe round up. Thank you so much for sharing at {wow me} wednesday! :)

    Ginger @ GingerSnapCrafts.com

    http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com/2013/06/over-25-berry-recipes-linkparty-feature.html

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  26. These are by far the most appetising food imagery I've seen in a long time on a recipes blog. Be sure I'll try some of these summer salads with unusual and interesting combinations.

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