Mixed Berry Salad

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

It’s a great way to celebrate berry season. Because the quality of berries goes up and the prices usually go down at the grocery during spring and summer, I always get excited for them. Besides snacking on berries and stirring them into yogurt and granola, I love them in salads.

Sweet berries are wonderful in savory recipes, especially salads. Here they contrast and balance out the bitterness of the kale. It is such an interesting flavor combination. Also, the salad is dressed in balsamic vinaigrette, which pairs perfectly with strawberries.

The extras in the salad give it so much texture and personality. There is more to it than just greens and berries. I also add sunflower seeds, toasted walnuts and crumbled goat cheese. 

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Berries: The salad has fresh blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. Thinly slice the strawberries. If possible, use smaller strawberries because they are sweeter. You can also include blackberries.
• Kale: Either lacinato kale or curly kale are fine. Just pull the leaves off the thick ribs and chop them. If you aren’t a kale fan, you can use baby spinach or arugula for the lettuce.
• Red onions: When you finely dice them, they mix right in with the chopped nuts and sunflower seeds.
• Goat cheese is my first choice for the salad, but you can substitute with crumbled feta cheese.
• Sunflower seeds add salty crunch to go with the walnuts.
• Walnuts: Toast the nuts before you toss them in the salad. Put the chopped walnuts on a baking sheet and toast them for 5-7 minutes in a 350-degree F oven. This will bring out their flavor. You can substitute with almonds or pecans.
• Parsley: I always like adding chopped fresh herbs to salads. In addition to parsley, you can also include torn fresh basil leaves.
• Balsamic vinaigrette: The dressing has minced garlic, honey, mustard, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Honey makes some of the sharpness more mild.

How To Make This Mixed Berry Salad Recipe

1. Combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl. That includes kale, berries, red onions, sunflower seeds, walnuts, goat cheese and parsley.

2. Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, honey, mustard, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

3. Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad. Toss to combine the ingredients.

Serving

This recipe is great for a spring – summer salad for lunch or dinner. Serve it as a side dish with grilled mains such as BBQ tofu veggie skewers, grilled halloumi & vegetables and a grilled mushroom corn pizza. If you want to add protein, try chicken, shrimp or tofu. You can also enjoy the salad with a slice of sourdough or artisan bread.