Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Strawberry and Basil Salad


Strawberry and basil are a combination commonly used in jam, so why not in a salad?  This  strawberry and basil combo is another one that made it onto our Easter lunch table and it was so tangy and lovely, severed as part of a BBQ buffet.


I have taken to adding fruit to all my salads as a way to deal with sweet cravings. It adds another layer to the dish and makes it more interesting to eat every day, as part of a Mediterranean diet.

Thredbo Ski Resort in the off season.  So relaxing and pretty

I have been very slack on the blogging front lately, partly because we have been doing a bit of school holiday travelling.  I promised the biggest Beach House Brat, that if he got a good report for Term 1, we would have a boys own adventure holiday with the family, which included the military and mountain biking.  After what seemed like a very stressful first term in high school, he managed to pull together a good report.  So off we went to Canberra and Thredbo to indulge in some serious fun and reward for effort.

In the Trenches
The Australian War Memorial has recently had big dollars spent on it and we had 2 days there, trying to cover it all.  With the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli coming up, it seemed like the right time to pay a visit.  It is a somewhat personal journey for our family, as Mr Beach House's grandfather sadly is on the honour roll at the memorial.  I will do a post on our trip, but just know it is a wonderful interactive museum and a great credit to those who have been making some changes at the memorial lately.


Strawberry and Basil Salad

1 bag of baby spinach
2 punnets of strawberries sliced in half
A good handful of picked basil leaves
Two handfuls of macadamia nuts or slivered almonds
2-3 tablespoons of Danish feta or goats cheese
Vinaigrette made with 2 parts extra virgin olive oil, to 1 part apple cider vinegar and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard. You can also throw in a whole clove of garlic to the bottle of dressing.  I make up a bottle and keep it in the pantry, because I use it every day and it keeps for months

Place all salad ingredients in a large mixing bowel..
Dress well with 3-4 tablespoons of vinaigrette and mix.
Decant onto a serving platter.
Serve with red meat, fish or chicken.

It sure is a lovely combo.


You can find more easy family recipes here.

If you would like Desire Empire posts to come straight to your inbox every ten days or so, you can sign up here for my Newsletter.

You can pin any of these shots by hovering over the shot and clicking on the "P".

You can also find me on
Today I am linked up here
#IBOT
With Some Grace

11 comments :

  1. I'm always a bit unsure about putting strawberries on salad, but this one looks like a winner :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can definitely say strawberry and basil were not two ingredients I would ever have thought of putting together, but I do have a serious sweet tooth and that salad looks amazing! Thanks for linking with #TeamIBOT x

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm a bit slow to the fruit in a salad thing but I am slowly getting onto it. Glad you had an adventurous break!

    ReplyDelete
  4. We went to Thredbo in the off season last year - so much fun!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've never tried this because I wasn't too sure...but you've convinced me to have a go!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks super fresh and delicious! I need to get into this fruit in salads business!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm not normally a fan of fruit in food like salads or hot meals but this does look yummy. Then again I think I'd eat strawberries in just about anything!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks so lovely on the plate and I'm interested in the flavour combo. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I always love a salad with a bit of sweetness and crunch. This looks like an amazing combination and your holiday snaps look lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Glad you got the chance to have a lovely relaxing holiday.
    I'm actually not keen on strawberries. Odd I know.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love strawberries with spinach but never thought to add basil. :)

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...