Strawberry Spinach Salad with Balsamic and Feta

When I think about making the perfect salad, it is some sort of combination of fruit and vegetables. This recipe for Strawberry Spinach Salad with Balsamic and Feta hits all the right notes and checks all of the boxes.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Balsamic and Feta

This salad combines tender baby spinach, juicy strawberries and an aromatic balsamic glaze that you make by reducing balsamic vinegar and honey. Along with the topping of nuts and cheese — chef’s choice if it is pecans or walnuts and feta or goat cheese — you’ve got a perfect balance of flavors.

On hot summer days, this is the kind of salad that I can make an entire meal of. As I mentioned in the intro, my favorite way of making salad is by combining fruit and vegetables, much like I did in our cranberry tuna salad recipe that has both celery and dried cranberries in it.

At other times of the year, this combination is perfect for serving at a special occasion, such as holiday dinner. I could easily envision the salad being the starter course when serving oven baked lemon pepper chicken as the main course.

Ingredients

This recipe calls for a balsamic glaze, which isn’t something you can easily buy at the store. So you will be making it from scratch for this recipe. No worries. It has only two ingredients and takes about 10 minutes.

Salad Ingredients

• 1 cup baby spinach
• 3/4 cup strawberries sliced
• 1/4 cup pecans or walnuts
• 1/4 cup feta cheese or goat cheese
• sea salt to taste
• black pepper to taste

Balsamic Glaze Ingredients

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey

Instructions

This recipe calls for a balsamic glaze, which you can create by reducing the 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar and honey in a saucepan. Whisk over a medium high heat, stirring constantly, until you have a syrup-like consistency, about 10 minutes. This should produce about two tablespoons of balsamic glaze

To assemble the salad, place baby spinach and sliced strawberries in a serving bowl. Top with nuts and cheese and pour the balsamic glaze over the top. Toss to mix.

Divide into four salad bowls. Top with any leftover cheese and nuts. Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

Notes

There are two easy substitutions to make with this Strawberry Spinach Salad with Balsamic and Feta. The recipe as written calls for pecans and feta. However, you can easily swap out the pecans for walnuts or the feta cheese for goat cheese. Or any combination thereof.