With this last burst of summer weather we’re having over on the west coast, it seems only fitting that I share one last summer recipe with you all. Especially since this summer salad will give you an excuse to use that balsamic blackberry vinaigrette from my last post. As if you needed an excuse…
Although I’m more than ready for fall, I’m really gonna miss the summer berries, garden tomatoes, and overall bounty of food that comes with warm weather.
Our garden didn’t do so hot this summer and tomatoes, berries, and herbs is pretty much all we had, but nonetheless, we enjoyed them thoroughly and got a lot of use out of our mini-garden. This salad used all three of our garden winners.
When it comes to summer salads like this one, the twinge of sweetness that fruit adds can’t be beat. I’m so used to adding berries to salads that I didn’t realize that to a lot of you, fruit in salads is weird.
First of all – where have you been? The fruit salad topping is a must. If you haven’t tried it, please just ignore your aversions to mixing sweet with the savory and jump right into this foodie craze.
If you’re trying to make this vegan, you can go ahead and leave out the cheese, but you might want to add a sprinkle of salt if you do. I add cheese to pretty much everything so if you’re not a cheese eater, you probably won’t even miss it.
In fact, I’ve noticed that pretty much every salad I make has the same primary ingredients – cheese, nuts, and some kind of fruit. If nothing else, I’m predictable, that’s for sure. Hey, a girl’s gotta know her favorites.
- About 6 cups salad greens, loosely packed
- ¼ cup torn basil leaves
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- ¼ cup toasted pecans, chopped
- ⅓ cup blackberries
- ¼ cup crumbled feta
- 3 Tbsp. balsamic blackberry vinaigrette (or to taste)
- Toss salad greens, basil, tomatoes, and pecans together with dressing.
- Gently stir in feta and blackberries.
- Serve immediately. To make this a more filling meal, add protein like chicken, boiled egg, or beans.
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