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With the bounty from our adventure yesterday, we were in need of some ideas on how to use our red ripe strawberries.  (Will I ever be able to think again without lines from children’s books popping into my head?  Considering the amount my son asks me to read to him, probably not.)

But I digress…

Since it’s spring, and I couldn’t find any recipes I liked for a spinach salad using strawberries, I decided to create my own.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Ingredients:

• about 5 ounces fresh baby spinach
• 1 to 2 cups strawberries, sliced
• 1 cucumber, sliced and quartered
• 1 tomato chopped
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed really well
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1/4 cup alfalfa sprouts
• 1 tbsp fresh chives chopped
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds

for the dressing:

• 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• hard cheese for grating on top- I used a raw gouda

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients for the salad in a huge salad bowl, and toss well.

To make the dressing,  stir the balsamic vinegar and honey together in a bowl.  Slowly add the olive oil into the mixture while whisking continuously. Season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle the dressing over the salad just before serving, then grate the desired amount of cheese on top.

It was delicious!

I didn’t want my son to be overwhelmed with the salad, so I assembled the beans, avocado, cucumber, strawberries, almonds and alfalfa sprouts on a plate for him before I made the salad, and he ate every last bit of it!