Strawberry Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese

This Strawberry Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese is kicked up a few notches with avocados, almonds, and a tasty poppyseed salad dressing.

If you’ve been hunting for new Spinach Salad Ideas, this is a delicious, memorable version.

Why You Must Make

• Adding strawberries, blue cheese, and avocado make this spinach salad recipe stand out!
• The sweet poppy seed dressing pairs well with all the salad ingredients.
• It’s perfect for dinner guests. I bet they’ll want seconds!

Ingredient Notes

• Kitchen Staples – Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper
• Cider Vinegar – Slightly sweet, less harsh than white vinegar.
• Honey – Using local honey can help with allergies.
• Poppy Seeds – If they’ve been sitting in your pantry for years, sniff or taste them to ensure they haven’t gone rancid.
• Mustard Powder – Adds some piquancy and is frequently used in salad dressings.
• Baby Spinach – Leaves are smaller and more tender than regular spinach.
• Strawberries – Sliced. Look for red, unblemished, fragrant berries.
• Sliced Almonds – Toast to bring out their essential oils. Watch them carefully as they will burn quickly. I do this in a nonstick saute pan.
• Avocado – Cut your avocado just before tossing the salad to minimize oxidation (turning brown). Coating with some salad dressing also helps.
• Blue Cheese – Crumbled. I used Gorgonzola, but any favorite variety will work.
• Red Onion – Sliced. Soak in ice water to reduce the pungency. Drain and place on paper towels to soak up any moisture before using.

Recipe Tips

• Make the salad dressing, toast the nuts, and soak the onions ahead of time.
• If serving this strawberry spinach salad to dinner guests, remove any long stems from the spinach leaves.
• Wait to toss the salad with the dressing until right before serving so the spinach doesn’t get soggy.
• If you have time to prep everything ahead of time, gently coat the avocado cubes in salad dressing so they don’t turn brown.
• PRO-Tip: Toasting almonds releases their essential oils and makes them more flavorful. To toast your nuts, preheat the oven to 350° and spread your nuts across a rimmed sheet pan. Shake the pan every 2 minutes until fragrant and golden for about 7 to 8 minutes. You can also toast them in a dry skillet. Shake or stir frequently for about 5 to 6 minutes.
• PRO-Tip: To emulsify the salad dressing (making it creamy and homogenous), whisk together all ingredients except the oil. Then, while whisking constantly, drizzle in the olive oil.

How to Make

1. Prep all the salad ingredients except the avocados since they will oxidize (turn brown) when exposed to air.
2. Go ahead and crumble the cheese, toast the nuts, core slice the strawberries, etc.
3. For a composed salad, put the spinach into a serving bowl and top with all the other components except for the avocados.
4. Make the salad dressing.
5. After you cube the avocados, gently coat them in salad dressing so they don’t brown.
6. Right before serving, toss the salad with salad dressing, gently mixing in the avocados last.

Frequently Asked Questions

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The Recipe:

Strawberry Spinach Salad Recipe with Blue Cheese

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Yield 6

A tasty spinach salad with fresh strawberries, blue cheese, almonds, and red onions tossed in a poppy seed salad dressing.

Ingredients

Salad:

• 1 ½ 5-ounce bags of baby spinach
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1 avocado, cut into cubes
• ½ cup crumbled blue cheese
• ¼ sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
• ½ small red onion*, thinly sliced

Salad Dressing:

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• Pinch of dried mustard
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Instructions

1. Place spinach in a large salad bowl.
2. Arrange the rest of the salad ingredients across the top of the spinach. Set aside.
3. To make the salad dressing, whisk together the vinegar, honey, and dried mustard.
4. Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking constantly until the mixture comes together/emulsifies.
5. Taste and add salt and pepper to the dressing if needed.
6. Toss the salad with the dressing right before serving.

Notes

*Soak the onion slices in ice water to remove some of its pungency. Drain and pat dry with paper towels before using.

Add the avocados right before serving so they don't oxidize (turn brown) or coat them in salad dressing before adding to minimize browning.

Adapted from Gimme Some Oven.

Recommended Products

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• 
  OXO Salad Dressing Shaker
• 
  OXO Cutting Board
• 
  10-Inch Wire Whisk

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 477Total Fat: 41gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 31gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 316mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 7gSugar: 14gProtein: 8g

Thatskinnychickcanbake.com occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thatskinnychickcanbake.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Also, many recipes on thatskinnychickcanbake.com recommend toppings, which may or may not be listed as optional and nutritional information for these added toppings is not listed. Other factors may change the nutritional information such as when the salt amount is listed “to taste,” it is not calculated into the recipe as the amount will vary. Also, different online calculators can provide different results. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information obtained is accurate.

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