About this recipe
This spinach strawberry salad is fresh, spicy, delicious, and healthy. Look no further than the delicious combination of spinach and strawberries with a bright, spicy chipotle lime dressing.
This vibrant and nutrient-rich salad is perfect for any occasion, from a light lunch to a dinner party. The sweet and tangy flavors of fresh strawberries perfectly complement the earthy taste of spinach while adding a pop of color to your plate.
Would you ever think making a spinach and strawberry salad with lemon and chipotle dressing is possible? I would have never imagined it, but lately, the more I cook with strawberries, the more I realize how easy it is to include them in everything. Strawberries can be roasted, baked, eaten raw, pickled… everything! They really are wonderful.
Ingredients
- Quinoa, you could use brown rice or farro.
- Dressing: olive oil, apple cider vinegar or other mild vinegar, lime juice, garlic, chipotle paste, lime zest.
- Spinach: Baby spinach is my favorite in salads
- Strawberries use fresh and ripe strawberries.
- Avocado pitted and cubed.
- Pepitas are pumpkin seeds. Substitute with pistachios, sunflower seeds, or any other nut you like.
- Cilantro leaves, omit if you are not a cilantro fan or sub with fresh spearmint or mint.
Did you know that a chipotle pepper is a super-ripe jalapeño pepper? So ripe that it turns red, and then they smoke it to dry it out. Once it’s dry, they make it into powder or put it in a marinade or adobo sauce.
How to make the salad
The first thing to do is to cook the quinoa. It cooks fast, but it needs time to cool. The next step is to make the dressing. It comes together really fast; mix the ingredients in a small bowl or blend them.
Prepare your strawberries, cilantro, and spinach. I use prewashed spinach to make this strawberry salad really fast.
Spinach strawberry salad benefits
Spinach is the best and very nutritious; cilantro had to be in the salad because what is a Latin-inspired recipe without cilantro? The fresh flavor that it gives in each bite is excellent, and it also has many benefits. Did you know that cilantro helps our body detox heavy metals?
I also added quinoa to the spinach salad, which is lovely. Quinoa has superpowers that fill us with clean protein for strength and health all day. I then added pepita seeds for extra crunch and more nutrition.
To finish this vegan spinach salad, I added avocado and sliced strawberries. The idea of having strawberries is that they work as croutons do, but of course, in a fresh and healthier way. I love the crunchy texture of strawberries and their amazing health benefits. And love and how beautiful they look when sliced in the salad.
Tips to make the best salad
How to prepare chipotle paste? To use the paste in recipes such as creamy tomato soup with chipotle and make it easier, I blend a can of chipotle and turn it into a paste. I keep this paste in the fridge, and from there, I add it to everything.
Quinoa. To make the quinoa super crunchy to give flavor and texture to the salad, cook a cup of quinoa with 1 ¾ cup of water. Turn off the heat when it is almost ready, meaning there’s virtually no liquid remaining. Let it cool, and when all the liquid has been absorbed … fluff it with a fork.
Spinach strawberry salad with a chipotle-lime dressing
Equipment
- Salad bowl
Ingredients
Quinoa
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 3/4 cup water
Dressing
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ⅛ teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon chipotle paste *see notes
- Zest of one lime
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Salad
- 6 handfuls of chopped spinach
- 1 – 1 ½ cup sliced strawberries
- 1 avocado pitted and cubbed
- 1/4 cup raw pepitas pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup loose cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Put the quinoa and water in a small saucepan with a lid over low heat. Until the water is evaporated, turn it off and leave it covered. Set aside.
- In a bowl, mix the ingredients for the dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
- Fluff the quinoa with a fork until entirely loose and cooled.
- In a large bowl, add the spinach and cilantro leaves, and dressing. Mix well.
- Top the spinach with the sliced strawberries, the quinoa, and the avocado.
- Finish the salad with the raw pumpkin seeds
Notes
- To make the chipotle chili paste, mix a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.
- This salad is made faster if you already have cooked quinoa in the refrigerator.
- This salad is better if you prepare it just before eating, it cannot be stored.
- If you have leftover dressing, store it in a jar in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
information
Nutritional information of this recipe is only an estimate, the accuracy for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
This recipe appeared first in March 2020.
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