This is one of our family favorites and one we make often. One thing I have learned is to put all the dressing ingredients in the blender and puree' instead of trying to finely chop the onion and wisk everything together. MUCH easier! In the winter time when strawberries are out of season (or just for a change), I use a can or two of mandarin oranges instead of strawberries. Crumbled feta cheese is also good on this salad if you like feta and crushed walnuts are a good (and cheaper) substitute for the almonds if you don't have almonds on hand. Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe was a big winner. Small modifications to the original:
Cut the sugar down to ¼ cup.
Add a few turns of fresh ground pepper
Use balsamic vinegar.
Use red onion.
Add some fresh bacon bits
Add a mix of blue cheese and feta cheese.
Also, do not mix the dressing in with greens, as it will only wilt the salad. Just apply as normal dressing. Mixing in the dressing and letting it sit I think would make it too ‘limpy’.
We put a few red onion slices on top with the cheese and bacon. It was great. The sweetness of the dressing would have been excessively much at ½ cup of sugar. This we will make again and again and again.
This is great but substitue balsamic vinegar for white, purple onions instead of white then add blueberries and bananas to the strawberries and it's to die for.
This salad is so tasty, specifically the dressing is out of this world delishhh. It is important to chill the dressing for a bit after mixing the ingredients together so that they blend with eachother well and mix well right before pouring it on the salad. My advice is not to skip the onion even if you don't like them because they play an important role in the taste of the dressing. You can hardly taste them in the dressing as the onion taste is not the dominant taste but they play an important role in marrying the sugar and vinegar together to create the specific taste this dressing has. For mine I halved the amount of sugar and it still came out super. I love the strawberries in the salad, but if you don't have them they can also be substituted for other fruits such as pineapple, oranges, or apples. A+ :)
I have prepared this two ways: hot and cold. Fried and crumbled bacon, then added all dressing ingredients till sugar dissolved. Pour this hot dressing over spinach/strawberries: outa this world! Also delicious prepared cold. Adding chicken chunks and kiwi is another wonderful variation for a complete, colorful meal in a bowl!
Excellent! Brought this to several parties and it was a big hit! Used less sugar and used balsamic vinegar and it was fantastic!
This is a unique and delicious salad. I brought this to a barbecue and everyone loved it. Sounded a bit odd to me at first - but it is wonderful. I omitted the poppy seeds, and toasted the sesame seeds to bring out their flavor. Also, I substituted chopped pecans for the almonds (just because I happened to have them in the cupboard) AND added a little crumbled BLUE CHEESE (approx. 1/4 cup). Delicious! Friends are still talking about it - and already asking me to make it again.
This is a great recipe. If strawberries are not in season, use mandarin orange segments or pineapple tidbits. It is also good with some grilled chicken added to the salad.
I was a little sceptical when I decided to try this recipe...but WOW! This is one of the best salads I have ever had. Thanks for a great recipe!
Unlike everyone else, I was not very impressed with this salad or dressing. I used frozen strawberries and didn't chill-- maybe these are the reasons for my disappointment.
