Easy Strawberry Summer Salad with Toasted Almonds
Strawberry summer salad combines sweet strawberries, crunchy toasted almonds, and salty ricotta salata into a delicious winner for a light lunch or dinner.
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Sometimes, I just need a light salad like this strawberry summer salad.
I hate to admit it, but I do.
As much as I want to, I can’t just mainline cheeseburgers like they are going out of style. Sad. Oh, the struggles of eating an overly heavy food over and over again.
I find plain salads sort of boring.
I mean really, there are only so many times you can eat a standard salad with a few leaves of lettuce or spinach and some dressing before you just need something new and different to shake up your taste buds.
Strawberry summer salad with toasted almonds shakes up the traditional salad and gives you amazing flavor so you don’t feel like you are eating cow food.
Ingredients and kitchen supplies
To make summer strawberry salad, you will need these simple ingredients:
- Romaine lettuce – You could use a different type of lettuce if you prefer, but I find romaine gives a great flavor.
- Strawberriesย – I love using in-season ingredients like fresh strawberries. Have you ever gone to pick your own strawberries or at least bought them from a farmer’s market? Now those are strawberries! Juicy and sweeter than any strawberry you’ve ever bought from a grocery store, fresh picked strawberries just are the beginning of summer. Of course, if you don’t live near a farm, you can always get them at your local grocery store. The grocery store offers strawberries all year, so you can make a strawberry salad with almonds all year long.
- Slivered almonds – You could use whole or chopped almonds to make a strawberry summer salad with almonds.
- Ricotta salata cheese – This is a salty, dry type of cheese similar to parmesan. You could use other types of hard cheese if you prefer, such as asiago.
- Olive oil – You will need a bit for the almonds to toast in as well as to help make the dressing.
- Salt and pepper – You can add this to taste or omit the salt if you are watching your sodium in take.
- Juice of half a lemon – Fresh lemon juice has a bright flavor, but you could use bottled lemon juice if that’s what you have on hand.
- Honey – Honey adds a bit of sweetness to the strawberry summer salad dressing.
- Dijon mustard – You can use your favorite brand of dijon.
- Balsamic vinegar – Balsamic vinegar has an excellent flavor with minimal tartness. You could also use red wine vinegar if you prefer.
To make strawberry summer salad with almonds, you really don’t need any special equipment.
Some tools you’ll want to have on hand include:
- Cutting board
- Sharp pairing knife
- Salad bowl
- Tongs
How to make strawberry summer salad
Here’s how to make summer strawberry salad with toasted almonds.
1. Toast the almonds
To toast the almonds, heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a small pan over medium heat.
Shake the pan gently so the oil covers the whole pan.
Pour the almonds into the pan and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
Heat for about 4 minutes or until the almonds just start to turn golden.
Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Assemble the salad
Wash, dry, and chop the romaine lettuce.
Put the lettuce in a big bowl and then top with sliced strawberries, crumbled ricotta salata, and the toasted almonds.
3. Mix the dressing and finish the salad
In a small bowl, whisk the ingredients for the dressing together vigorously until the mustard and honey completely dissolve.
Pour the dressing liberally over the strawberry summer salad.
Serve immedidately and enjoy!
Storing strawberry summer salad
Like the strawberries, summer strawberry salad with toasted almonds is best served fresh when made.
If you want, you can make the dressing ahead and even assemble the salad if you like.
But – unless storing leftovers – keep the salad, almonds, and dressing in seperate containers until you are ready to assemble.
Once you are ready to eat the salad, you can toss them all together in a large bowl and serve.
Tips and tricks
Strawberry summer salad is pretty easy to make, but you can use these tips and tricks to help make sure it comes out great every time.
- If making ahead, keep the toasted almonds, dressing, salad, and cheese separate until ready to serve.
- Let the almonds cool for a few minutes before adding to the salad.
- Feel free to add croutons or other toppings if you like for added flavor.
Other recipes to try
Whether you are looking for other salad ideas or to feel out your meal, check out these other great recipes.
- Burrata Panzanella Salad Recipeโ Cream filled mozzarella in a tomato bread salad.
- Strawberry Caprese Saladโ Sweet strawberries replace tomatoes in this salad.
- Panzanella Caprese Saladโ Caprese and toasted bread cubes.
- Easy Tortellini Caprese Skewersโ Skewers of tortellini, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella pearls
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Ingredients
For the Salad
- 1 head of romaine lettuce chopped
- 1 pound of strawberries sliced
- 1/2 cup of slivered almonds
- 1 cup of ricotta salata cheese*
- 1 teaspoon of olive oil
- salt and pepper
For the Dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- juice of half a lemon
- 3 tablespoons of honey
- 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Shake the pan gently, to just spread the oil out so it covers the whole pan.
- Pour the almonds into the pan and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.** Heat for about 4 minutes or until the almonds just start to turn golden. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Wash, dry, and chop the romaine lettuce. Put it in a big bowl. Top with sliced strawberries, crumbled ricotta salata, and the toasted almonds.
- Finish by pouring dressing over the salad.
For the Dressing
- Whisk the ingredients together vigorously until the mustard dissolves. Pour liberally over the salad just prior to serving.
Notes
** I go pretty heavy on the pepper. I like the nice bite from the pepper in contrast with the sweet strawberries.
Oh yes please to the feta cheese!
Yep~ you can totally sub out feta for the ricotta salata.
Strawberry season is one of my favorite times of the year! They are so versatile, and make everything so pretty. Love this salad idea!
Mine too! Love strawberries and going strawberry picking. Use the fresh ones in everything!
This looks so yummy! I’m going to try it as soon as the strawberries in my garden are ripe.
Mmm jealous of your garden strawberries! One day I will do that too!