Strawberry, Sugar Snap Pea, & Goat Cheese Salad w/ A White Balsamic Poppyseed Vinaigrette

#16 a perfect summer salad

This is one of my favorite salads ever. It’s sort of a play on a strawberry salad my mom would always make growing up. A salad that one of my siblings would always ask her to make as a side on special occasions. It was our favorite, all 5 of us. It is also so easy to throw together and, like most salads: a PERFECT make ahead of time side dish (just wait to add the dressing until right before you serve).

This salad has all the components that make a salad great, in my opinion. Crunchy fresh veggies, something sort of sweet (in this case a sweet n juicy fruit), a creamy, salty cheese, toasty nuts, and a BOMB and super flavorful dressing. I know salads might seem boring to some but they really are one of my favorite things to eat. Especially this time of year when we have so much good produce that you really don’t have to do much to make it taste great (or anything at all, I’m not opposed to eating handfuls of sugar snap peas as is).

As always if you make this send me pics!!

---

Ingredients

For the White Balsamic Poppyseed Vinaigrette

• 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar, you can use champagne vinegar here instead if you can’t find white balsamic

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 a shallot, very finely minced; it will be about 1 tbs minced

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard

• 2 tablespoons poppyseeds

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

• lots of freshly ground pepper

For the Strawberry Salad

• 3-4 oz goat cheese, crumbled

• 1 cup strawberries, tops removed and sliced about 1/4 in thick. add more than a cup if ya want!

• 1/2 cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped

• 1/2 cup sliced sugar snap peas, sliced thinly on a diagonal.
  optional: about 7-8 whole sugar snap peas for garnish, carefully slice open the pod horizontally to expose the inside.

• 1/4 cup sliced radishes, about 4-6 radishes thinly sliced

• 3-4 cups arugula or a mix of arugula and little gems. I do about 3-4 handfuls instead of measuring.

---

Instructions

1. Add all of the ingredients for the salad dressing to a medium bowl and whisk vigorously for about 1 minute until it looks emulsified. You can also add everything to a container with a lid and shake for a minute to emulsify.

2. To assemble: start with the lettuce at the bottom of a large bowl or plate, layer all of the toppings on top in whatever order looks prettiest to you! Finish with the sugar snap pea pods that you split open.

3. Toss the salad in the dressing just before serving. You will probably have some dressing left over (it will keep in the fridge for about 3-4 days)