Refreshing “Lemon Drop” Berries, Walnut & Greens Salad
Posted: March 16, 2012 Filed under: Salads, Uncategorized | Tags: apples, berries, blueberries, easy salads, gluten-free, greens, lemon, light salads, olive oil, refreshing, salad, salads, spring salads, strawberries, summer salads, vegan, vegetarian, veggies, walnuts, winter salads 8 Comments
Not long ago, I enthusiastically wound up my Cuisinart salad spinner, a gift from my efficient salad-loving daughter. What I did not do was read the instructions, which I’m now guessing said something like, “Wait until the inner whirling colander comes to a complete halt before removing the lid.” If you remove the lid early in the spinning process, I can testify that you will immediately give your entire kitchen, including ceiling and floor, a certain lettuce-based Rain Forest look. However, if you use it correctly, a salad spinner is quite the nifty item to dry the lettuce mix for this recipe below, one of my favorite salads.
The “dressing” is mixed as you toss the salad, no need for a separate bowl.
Becky’s
Refreshing “Lemon Drop” Berries, Walnut & Greens Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 to 6 cups of early spring mix lettuce (rinsed, patted, or spun dry)
½ c. toasted walnuts or pecans
1/2 c. fresh blueberries
1/2 c. sliced fresh strawberries
Juice of one small lemon or ½ large lemon
Olive oil (about 2 T. or to taste)
Sea salt (to taste)
Organic sugar (to taste)
(Blue cheese , feta, goat cheese or Gorgonzola crumbles can also be added if you want a heartier salad.)
Directions
In a large salad bowl place the greens, berries and toasted nuts. Squeeze juice of one small lemon over all. Toss. Sprinkle the leaves with sea salt and sugar to taste. (Hint from professional chefs: salad always tastes better and you use less dressing if you lightly salt the greens just before serving.) Toss. Finally squiggle about 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil. (My good friend Lucille gave me a bottle of Meyer Lemon Olive Oil featured in the picture- so good in this recipe!) Toss gently again. This is a taste-as-you-go salad. The dressing should taste sweet & sour — like lemonade or “lemon drops” — with just enough salt and olive oil to make it savory.
This salad is a light go-to side dish that goes especially well with heavier main dishes. Once you get the method down, it is also one of the fastest, easiest salads you can throw together – and everyone loves it! Try using sliced green or red apples or sliced peaches in place place of berries, for a salad that refreshes in all seasons.
I made a huge version of this salad on a big oval platter fothe holiday. Not a drop of salad left, and it was so beautiful. Looked like a Spring garden! Added some goat cheese to this version. Yum!
This was printed from: We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook
The site URL: http://welaughwecrywecook.com
The Title: Refreshing “Lemon Drop” Berries, Walnut & Greens Salad
The URL: https://welaughwecrywecook.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/refreshing-lemon-drop-apple-walnut-greens-salad/
© Copyright 2012 – All Rights Reserved
Becky Johnson
Rachel Randolph
We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook 
Yummy! What a gorgeous salad. Mustmake this one, soon!
What a nice compliment from my favorite Southern Belle. I think you’ll like this one… making another one tonight for company:) Love ya, Girl!
[…] delicious salad from Becky and Rachel at We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook! Becky is the wife of my CBA agent, Greg Johnson at Wordserve Literary. Rachel is her daughter. […]
I used the lemon drop dressing on my kale salad tonight and it was so easy and refreshing. I went subtle with the lemon flavors since I had a lot of other flavors going on with my salad toppings–chickpeas, yellow & red bell peppers, and olives (a little random, I know). I think it could work for any salad and topping combo since you just add the ingredients to taste.
So glad you liked it… lemon is a great compliment to chickpeas and olives. Sounds good to me. I was talking to a friend about this salad today (she saw, wants to try), and I told her, “Honestly, this is my favorite salad dressing and I could probably eat it every day.’ Greg would get tired of it….. but lots of times I’ll make his salad with another dressing, while I’m happily squeezing my lemon, and sprinkling sugar, salt and olive oil on mine:)
Funny, Jared used our homemade ranch on his salad, but I can’t eat those heavy dressings very often. I much prefer something light like this on a daily basis. The great thing was that I didn’t even have to look it up, I just remembered it off the top of my head since it’s only four simple ingredients.
[…] I make a simple vinaigrette or something like my mom’s Lemon Drop Dressing, but sometimes Jared and I crave the creamy classic, Ranch […]
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