Strawberry Salad
This recipe creates a refreshing strawberry salad featuring crisp romaine and spinach, sweet strawberries, and Parmesan cheese, topped with a unique crunchy mix of ramen noodles, almonds, and sunflower seeds. A sweet and tangy red wine vinaigrette ties it all together. Prepare components ahead and combine just before serving for best results.
Equipment
- 1 Baking Sheet
- 1 Small Bowl For toasting mix
- 1 Large salad bowl For assembling salad
- 1 Whisk or fork For dressing
- 1 Knife For preparing strawberries
Ingredients
Main
- 1 package ramen noodles crushed, flavor packet discarded
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup 1/2 stick butter, melted
- 1 head romaine lettuce washed and dried
- One 5-ounce bag baby spinach
- 1 pint strawberries hulled and thinly sliced
- 1 cup grated Parmesan
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 cloves garlic minced
Instructions
- For the salad: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix the ramen noodles, almonds, sunflower seeds and melted butter. Transfer to a baking sheet and toast in the oven, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- Tear the lettuce and combine with the spinach, strawberries and cheese in a large salad bowl.
- For the dressing: Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar. Combine the oil, paprika, salt and garlic and then add to the sugar-vinegar mixture. Mix well and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Just before serving, sprinkle the crunchy topping over the salad green and toss the salad with enough dressing to coat the greens.
Notes
Ensure greens are completely dry before combining with other salad components to prevent the salad from becoming soggy. Toast the ramen/nut mixture until truly golden brown for maximum flavor and crunch, but watch carefully as nuts can burn quickly. Store the dressing and the crunchy topping separately until just before serving to maintain texture integrity. The sweetness of the strawberries pairs beautifully with the tangy dressing; feel free to adjust sugar/vinegar ratio to your preference. Consider using a food processor to mince garlic very finely for the dressing.