Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Honey-Mustard Dressing

 Try something new this summer. I know spinach strawberry salad isn't new to some of you but I'm surprised by how many people have not yet tried it- including me until just recently! This is a great recipe for summer and the abundance of spinach in your garden!

  
Strawberry Spinach Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing- Our new favorite!
                               


I was invited over to a friend's house for lunch recently- which I never get to do! She made Strawberry Spinach Salad with Chicken as the main dish, homemade bread and homemade sweet tea! I appreciate homemade food so much! It's probably because I realize the effort that it takes to create it! Her meal was splendid- so good that I had 2 bowls of salad! LOL (...Not very lady like I'm sure!) So, when I came home, I decided to try it out on my family. I wasn't sure what they'd think of spinach salad alone, but with strawberries I thought the kids might give it a try. I used the Honey Mustard Dressing that our family loves, and now this has become a new family favorite! I hope your family loves it too!

Check out Carrie's Blog too: http://www.thebackyardfamwife.blogspot.com/ She's got crafty things, garden, family, cooking...etc. We have a lot in common! :)

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Honey -Mustard Dressing

Ingredients:
Spinach- use as much as your family will eat. We use about 1/2 bag per per meal if it's not the main dish.
1/2 pint sliced strawberries
1/4 cup combined sesame seeds and or sunflower seeds, toasted (see directions below)
Honey Mustard Dressing (see directions below)

Prepare spinach by pulling off the long stem pieces, if desired. Evenly place the sliced strawberries on the spinach, then mix. Sprinkle with seeds and serve with Honey- Mustard Dressing.

Directions for toasted seeds:
In a small frying pan, toast seeds till they smell "nutty" and are slightly browned.
Honey Mustard Dressing- mmm... goodness.

Kristin's Honey-Mustard Dressing
The original recipe is from www.food.com . My husband prefers it sweeter with less mustard flavor so I add more honey than they do. The recipe claims that is comes straight from the Red Robin's Training Book and this is just scaled down. Either way, we love it-- whether it's the real thing or not!

1 1/3 cups mayonnaise
4 1/2 T white sugar
3 1/2 T honey
2 T mustard
2 T Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard
2 T white vinegar
2 T vegetable oil
1 1/2 T poppy seeds

Mix all ingredients together with a whisk. Store in a covered container or quart jar with a lid and refrigerate.
Use for salad dressing, dip for chicken strips or one of our favorite things: use it instead of mayo on a sandwich! Enjoy!




It's so healthy and light that it goes well with pasta too!