Strawberry Spinach Salad With Poppy Seed Dressing

I love salads. I have mentioned this before on my blog; I started exploring different salads only after coming to the US. Kosambari (Moong dal and veggie salad) and carrot-coconut salad are something that I grew up eating. But I started enjoying green-based salads and wraps only in the US. Now coming back to this salad, I tried this salad for the first time at one of our office potlucks. The dressing was slightly different, and it had milk in it. When I started exploring this salad, I figured out it’s a classic. Also, I found a similar recipe in a calendar clipping. So I took that as a base and modified the recipe, especially the dressing with readily available pantry ingredients, and that’s what I am sharing today. The husbandman, who is not a big fan of salads, really enjoys this one, and that says it all. :-) Call it spinach strawberry salad or strawberry spinach salad; this salad is great for parties and potlucks. You can relish it as a meal or as a side salad with soups or other main dishes. Before getting into the ingredient details, let me talk about two main ingredients that we use for the strawberry spinach salad dressing.

Balsamic Vinegar

The original recipe calls for white wine vinegar, and most of the spinach strawberry salad you find online will call for white balsamic vinegar. But I went with the regular balsamic vinegar. So what is balsamic vinegar? It’s a popular condiment from Italy, and it is the reduction of grapes, mainly from Trebbiano grape juice. White Balsamic is also the reduction of the same grape variety but cooked at low temperature to retain the clear color. So if you want to retain the color of the cheese and salad, then opt for white balsamic vinegar.

Poppy Seeds

Again, most online recipes call for black poppy seeds, but I went with white poppy seeds as I always have them in my pantry. Yes, poppy seeds are pretty standard in the Indian kitchen, and we use them for kurma masala and poppy seeds kheer.

Ingredients required.

For the dressing: Apart from balsamic vinegar and poppy seeds, we need salt, pepper, olive oil, honey, and citrus juice. I like orange juice in this dressing. But you can use lemon juice too. Spinach: For this salad, I would recommend fresh baby spinach. If you can’t find baby spinach, you can use the regular ones. Make sure to remove the long stems and chop them into bite-sized pieces. Strawberries: Fresh juicy, and sweet strawberries make this salad luscious and colorful. Nuts: I have used sliced almonds and walnuts. You can use nuts of your choice. I toasted them a bit before adding them to the salad. Cheese: While feta cheese is the commonly used cheese for this salad, I have used cottage cheese for this salad, and we love it. Also, with cottage cheese, I don’t need to worry about the animal rennet. Optional ingredients: Sometimes, I add cucumbers or avocado to this salad. Today, I went with some avocado. But both are optional.

Dietary specifications and servings

This spinach and strawberry salad is vegetarian. Skip the cottage cheese and make sure to use maple syrup in the dressing for a vegan version of this salad. The below measure serves three, and this is a cold salad. Prep the ingredients and make the dressing ahead. Before serving, combine all the ingredients and add the required dressing and serve immediately. I know I am repeating this, but make sure to add the dressing just before serving. No one wants soggy salads. Now let’s see how I made this salad.

How to make spinach strawberry salad

Toasting the nuts:

Heat a pan and when it is hot, reduce the heat to medium-low and add the nuts. Toast them for 2 to 3 minutes and remove them from the pan, and set them aside. (No need to add oil)

Prepare the dressing:

In a mason jar or salad dressing mixer, add all the ingredients given under “for the dressing” – poppy seeds, ground pepper, salt, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, and orange juice. Whisk well and set it aside.

Assemble the salad:

In a big salad bowl, add spinach, strawberries, toasted nuts, and cottage cheese.

Just before serving, add the required amount of dressing.

Gently combine. Add avocado if using and serve right away.

Recipe Notes

I did not toast the poppy seeds, but you can toast if needed. In that case, toast for about 1 to 2 minutes over medium-low heat.Cheese is optional. You can replace cottage cheese with feta or cheese of your choice.You can use white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, or white balsamic vinegar instead of regular balsamic vinegar.Adjust spices, honey/maple syrup, and citrus juice as per your taste preference.

Explore other salad recipes

If you love fruit-based salads, also checkout my fruit chaat recipe.

Loved this recipe?

If you try this strawberry spinach salad, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I will get to it ASAP. Make sure to follow me on my Pinterest or Instagram or join my Facebook Group for recipe updates and simple Indian meal ideas.