Utilizing whole, fresh foods – strawberry sunshine salad
With this being my last food column in The Ontarion for a while – but likely not forever – I have decided to talk a bit about the importance of making the choice to cook with fresh, wholesome ingredients when cooking for yourself. Something that I have noticed over the years is that a beautiful and delicious meal is only as tasty as the ingredients you decide to use while cooking. With the warmer months upon us, we are so lucky to live in the community we are in.
The city of Guelph has a great farmer’s market, and, soon enough, it will be filled with lots of fresh foodie goodness. Take the time to stroll downtown, and fill up your reusable bags with fresh ingredients. The summer is a great time to take advantage of all of the locally-grown produce we are given the opportunity to buy. Not only will your meals taste better, but you will also be helping the people in our community prosper.
This week, I am going to share with you one of my favourite summer salads that I make each year in the summer using only the freshest local ingredients. It’s sweet and colourful, and hits all the right taste buds; it’s my strawberry sunshine salad. This salad is very easy to make, and can be made using fresh and ripe ingredients that can be found throughout the summer at the Guelph Farmer’s Market. There aren’t many ingredients, but the tastes blend together effortlessly. Like always, you can find the shopping list at the end of the article, but, right now, I am going to instruct you on how to build this mouthwatering salad.
First, wash the locally-grown spring mix. If you like a bit of a peppery kick, add a handful of baby arugula as well. Then, slice some red onion, and cucumber finely. Next, slice approximately 10 fresh, local strawberries. These are all of the veggies you will need to build the salad. Next, sprinkle some sliced almonds, and crumble goat cheese on top of the salad.
For a dressing, I recommend combining olive or grape seed oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, and cinnamon. I personally don’t own any store-bought salad dressings because I’d rather make my own – they taste better and I know what goes into them. So, I highly recommend making your own – it’ll only take a few extra minutes and will make all the difference.
This is a salad that is great anytime, but is best in the summer when local strawberries are available – they just taste so much better. Enjoy!
Shopping list:
- Spring mix
- Arugula
- Strawberries
- Cucumber
- Red onion
- Sliced almonds
- Goat cheese
- Olive oil
- Honey
- Cinnamon
- Apple cider vinegar