Strawberry and Spinach Salad

What a delicious salad!  It's hard not to like anything with strawberries and goat cheese--yum!  The salad dressing is divine, too.  If you don't have the sesame or poppy seeds, you can leave them out.  The mixture of oil, vinegar, and sugar is the main event.

You'll be SO glad you tried this.  Hope you love it!

Strawberry and Spinach Salad

2 bunches spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-sized pieces

4 cups sliced strawberries

2 oz goat cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 tsp paprika

2 Tbsp sesame seeds

1 Tbsp poppy seeds

In a large bowl, toss together the spinach, strawberries, goat cheese, and almonds.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar, paprika, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds.  Pour over the spinach and strawberries, and toss to coat.

Book Club Salad

As you gathered from the creative title, this is the salad I brought to Book Club last night.  It was good!  We served the salad as a side to some great pizza, but I'm sure you could easily turn this into a main-course salad by adding some grilled chicken. 

I'm attaching a suggested dressing, but I'm sure it would be good with anything from a vinaigrette to creamy ranch.  We love anything with ranch dressing.

I love how bright and colorful this dish is!  I hope you like it!  

Book Club Salad

2 hearts romaine lettuce, washed, dried, and torn into bite-size pieces
2 cups chopped tomatoes (I used halved grape tomatoes, and they were delicious)
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
1 cup croutons

In a bowl, toss all ingredients, adding croutons just before serving.  Top with your favorite dressing. 

Lemon and Oil Dressing

1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper; cover and shake well.  Chill until ready to serve with salad.