Strawberry, Avocado & Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

One of the most refreshing salads I’ve eaten. It’s summer time so take advantage of the lovely strawberries. Since I find spinach a bit boring (let’s face it, it’s like eating grass) the strawbs lift this salad to an amazing height and the avocado smoothes it all out.  If you use the cheese you get another hit of flavour and it becomes a full meal in itself, not just a side. The poppyseed dressing is sweet and unusual giving it a little, much needed, texture but the sliced almonds bring an extravagance to the dish. You’ve really gotta try this one, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised as we were. Superb!!

SALAD INGREDIENTS:

Baby Spinach 6 cups
Strawberries, 2 cups, hulled and sliced
Avocado, diced 1 or 2 (squeeze lemon juice on it to avoid browning before dressing)
Blue cheese, 4 ounces, crumbled (optional) it’s just a good without
Sliced almonds, toasted, 1/4 cup
Small salad onion, half, very thinly sliced

POPPYSEED DRESSING INGREDIENTS:

Olive Oil, 1/2 cup
Sherry vinegar, 3 T
Honey, 2 T
 Poppy seeds, 1 T
Dry mustard, pinch (optional)
salt and pepper

TO MAKE THE SALAD:

Toss all ingredients, except the cheese & toasted sliced almonds, together carefully, so as not to squash the avocado.  Add half the dressing. (If you are rough with avocado it smears all over the salad and looks awful.) Put the cheese on in very small pieces and Sprinkle over the almond slices. Serve immediately.

TO MAKE THE POPPYSEED DRESSING:

Whisk all ingredients together until combined, or put in a jar, tighten the lid and shake