Thursday, July 7, 2011

Strawberry Summer

Often during the summer I will lose my appetite for everything except pizza. Sometimes even pizza is gross (if you can imagine!), so I just want bread and fruit. Fortunately, someone smarter than me didn't head for the bag of bread and canned peaches. Instead, he made this amazing strawberry salad, and it was. so. delicious. I don't even like strawberries all that much, and it was so, so good, and perfect for hot summer nights when you don't feel like really cooking.
My one word of advice for this is to start it in advance so you aren't eating dinner at 10:45 at night. Yep. And excuse my grainy pictures I took with my phone right before I finished eating.


Strawberry Spinach Salad

2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced onion
10 ounces fresh spinach - rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
1 quart strawberries - cleaned, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Cover, and chill for one hour.

In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds. Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Eat with a loaf of french bread. I insist.