Salads are on constant dinner repeat during the summer, and this one from LAZO by Don Strange is made for enjoying on a Texas patio. Loaded with fresh strawberries, avocado, cucumber, and celery on a bed of spinach, it’s complemented by a zippy and refreshing homemade raspberry vinaigrette.
Ingredients
Raspberry Vinaigrette
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup raspberry-flavored vinegar
- 1 sliced medium onion about ½ inch thick and roughly chopped
- ⅔ cup canola oil
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
- Toasted slivered almonds for garnish
Salad
- 1 pound baby spinach leaves
- 1 cucumber sliced into thin rounds
- 2 cups thin-sliced celery
- 2 ripe avocados peeled, seeded, and cut into bite-size curves
- 1 cup (1/2 pint) strawberries stemmed and sliced
Instructions
- Make the Raspberry Vinaigrette. Combine all ingredients except poppy and sesame seeds in work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Process until smooth. Turn dressing out into a bowl and whisk in the poppy and sesame seeds. Refrigerate, tightly covered, at least 2 hours before serving.
- Place a bed of spinach leaves on each individual serving plate and drizzle a portion of chilled dressing over the top. Garnish with cucumber slices, celery, avocadoes, and strawberries. (Or you can combine the spinach, cucumber slices, celery, and avocados in a large serving bowl, drizzle the dressing over the top, and toss to moisten all spinach with dressing.)
Notes
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