Strawberry Poppyseed Salad

This Strawberry Poppyseed Salad was inspired by meals Dan and I shared at the home of Jake and Trena Van Wyk, back in our days at Dordt College. The Van Wyks often opened their home for Sunday dinners, and we experienced many delicious and comforting meals around their table. 

Although I don’t remember the exact meal where we tasted Trena’s poppyseed salad dressing, I do remember loving her version, so much so that I hand wrote her recipe onto a card, placed it in my recipe book, and still use it all these years later.

While this salad is traditionally eaten with fresh baby spinach, we’re making this in our farm kitchen with our seasonal salad mix. Why? The variety of sweet spinach we grow doesn’t care for heat, and with our end-of-spring heat spell, much of the spinach has gone to seed. You can make this salad with whatever greens you have on hand, but we think it works best with a salad mix or spinach.

This salad tastes best with homegrown strawberries, the kind bred for taste over transportation. So, if possible, look for local strawberries and make this salad as much as possible during strawberry season! We also added toasted almonds for crunch and blue cheese for its contrast to the strawberries’ sweetness. Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Strawberry Poppyseed Salad

A refreshing, seasonal salad with fresh salad mix, strawberries, blue cheese, and toasted almonds.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Course: Salad

Keyword: poppyseed, strawberries

Servings: 6 people

Equipment

• skillet
• cutting board
• paring knife
• glass jar

Ingredients

Dressing

• 1 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp poppyseeds
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt

Salad Ingredients

• 6 oz slivered almonds toasted
• 6 oz blue cheese crumbled
• 1 quart fresh strawberries sliced
• 1 pound salad mix or salad spinach

Instructions

• To make poppyseed dressing, combine canola oil, white wine vinegar, sugar, poppyseeds, paprika, and salt in glass jar. Shake until thoroughly mixed and sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
• Place salad mix or spinach in large bowl. Sprinkle blue cheese and sliced strawberries artfully over top of greens. Alternatively, portion out the greens into 6 individual bowls and divide toppings accordingly.
• Drizzle poppyseed dressing over salad. Sprinkle almonds over salad. Enjoy immediately!