I want you to know that I had to resist because I almost titled this, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, but then you couldn’t hear my tone or singsong voice as you read it.  Then it occurred to me that I could probably add the Beatles’ song on here so it would play when you opened it, but if you aren’t a fan that could get annoying.  Hehe Don’t worry, I’m far from an advanced blogging student anyway, this is like my fourth post.

I’m not gonna lie, I’m EXCITED about this salad and about these pictures.  I mean, I guess it figures that once you decide you’re going to start a blog and you’re going to have recipes on it and you’re going to be needing to take pictures, it would figure that your camera would break, you would have to send it somewhere to be fixed, and then have to wait for it to come back.  But…I took all of these pictures with my iPhone, and it turns out, they’re not too shabby!

So I love Utah for many reasons, one of which is the food that they have there.  Now unfortunately I had two kids under four while I lived there so my husband, Mike, and I never got to experience downtown dining.  However, the places we could take our children to were great regardless of not having white table cloths or a maitre d.  We fell in love with Cafe Rio, Cafe Zupa’s, and Kneaders.  If you haven’t been to Zupa’s for a soup and sandwich combo, you’re missing out.  Everything I’ve tried there is delicious.  Kneaders has equally delicious soups, salads, and baked goods.  They are casual places so when we felt brave (or out of at home options) we took our kids out for dinner.   (I guess I should mention that they’re not paying me for these kind words, LOL, but if you know how to get ahold of someone who would… teasing.)

Mike and I shared a salad like this at Kneaders on a day when my lovely friend Daisy took my kiddos so we could have a day out.  We were hanging out up at the Tanger Outlet Mall in Park City and headed to Kneaders to fuel up after a fun shopping day without children.  You readers who have yet to have kids might not understand how hard it is to buy clothes with small children in tow. They hide in the aisles of clothes and accidentally pull down hangers as they play chase so you’re running around picking up stuff instead of picking out stuff.  They crawl under the dressing rooms and scare the poor strangers who had the bad luck to be shopping on the same day.  They…you get the picture.  And hey I’m not saying my kids do this.  I’m saying some kids do this.  😉

Anyway, as I ate this salad today I was reminded of how nice it was to have a day away with my husband.  Eating this salad took me back to a quiet lunch in Park City, sitting on a high stool looking out at the mountains.  Don’t worry, I’m sure this salad isn’t just good because it brings me nostalgia.  It’s a perfect summer salad with an easy dressing to make at home, which I got from the Green Smoothie Girl.  I’m not putting any amounts with the list of ingredients because I figure you’ll do what you want. 🙂 Besides, Mike says that my biggest fault when making salads is that I get carried away with everything that goes on top and the “green stuff” is always hiding underneath.

Ingredients

• spinach or spring mix
• sliced red onion
• sliced strawberries
• raspberries
• sliced almonts
• feta cheese

Directions

1. Umm I feel a little silly writing directions for this salad, but here it goes.  Wash your spinach or spring mix.  Better yet, buy it already done for you.
2. Slice your red onion and put it on top of the spinach.
3. Slice strawberries and put them on top with your raspberries, almonds, and feta cheese.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 5 fresh strawberries
• 1 Tbsp poppy seeds (optional-as in if you’ve already got ’em)

Directions

Put all the ingredients minus the poppy seeds into your food processor and blend!  Then add poppy seeds, pulse a couple times and you’re good to go!  Or good to eat.