Wonderful summer spinach salad made with fresh blackberries, chicken and topped with homemade blackberry poppy seed vinaigrette dressing. Delightful flavor balance of savory with a touch of sweetness and fresh berries.
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“Summertime…and the livin’s easy”
Oh man, now this song will be in my head for days.
Summertime is about to be here. Only two more weeks of school left for us. Most parents freak out about that time, kids are home all day, no school. Usually, I actually look forward to summers because my son will be home all day. Part of my reasoning is totally selfish, I really, really, really hate waking up early. I am SO not a morning person and having to wake up early to get him ready for school and then drive him to school is a drag. I have to be totally caffeinated in the morning to even appear human. So summer, for me, means that we can sleep in an extra hour. Yippee!
My other reason is that I actually love the fact that he will be home with me. Yes, it does make it much harder for me to work while he is home because he demands attention. But I do feel very blessed to be working from home, even when he tries to drag me away (literally) from work.
This year, we had an unbelievably hard and stressful school year. We switched about four teachers and two schools. School has been stressful to the point of anxiety, so I am relieved for this awful school year to be over. We moved to a new, highly praised school district and after touring the new school, we feel a little better about the upcoming school year.
In the mean time, we get to enjoy a whole summer together. Two months doesn’t seem like enough, but it’s a nice break. Lots of beach time, pool time, parks, and train rides are ahead of us.
Since there is no school, we have all the free time we want to just run off somewhere for the day, which we love to do. Movies in the park are something I plan to try this year with my little man. He is not too patient when it comes to sitting thought a whole movie, so it’s on our summer bucket list this year. What’s on your summer bucket list?
Blackberry Chicken Spinach Salad with Blackberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- Blackberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette:
- 1/4 red onion chopped
- 6 oz blackberries
- 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbsp dark balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tsp poppy seeds
- Salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- 3/4 to 1 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Blackberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette:
- Preheat a small pan over medium heat and add a little bit of vegetable oil.
- Add chopped red onion and saute until transparent.
- Add blackberries and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Raise the heat a little bit and add both vinegars and brown sugar. Mix well and simmer until liquid is reduced by about half. Stir often.
- Take off heat and add cooked mixture to the blender.
- Add poppy seeds, 1/2 cup of olive oil, salt and pepper to the blender. Blend well and add more olive oil until thinned enough.
- Transfer into a container and set aside until completely cooled.
- Keep in the refrigerator, in an air-tight container.
Notes
Ingredients
- For 1 Salad:
- 3 oz of fresh baby spinach and arugula salad mix
- 1/4 small red onion thinly sliced
- 3-4 oz fresh blackberries
- 2 Tbsp roasted chick peas
- 2/3 cup grilled chicken chopped
- 2-3 Tbsp Blackberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette recipe above
Instructions
- Layer salad ingredients.
- Drizzle dressing on top.
- Enjoy this fresh summer salad!
Notes
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Some More Dressing Recipes:
Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way says
Your colors are to die for . . . except I want to live long enough to taste that delicious salad and dressing. Great shots nice and tight but very vivid and clean. And I remember doing all sorts of fun things while my kids were on vacation. But that was BB — before blogging. All I had to do was take care of a house, three kids, one dog, three cats, one iguana , and a boa. Oh! And a 40 X 40 garden plus the canning and freezing. Easy, peasy! Now I’d like to know why I had more time then, then I do now???? 🙁 That is a real poser for me. Oh! I forgot — I ran 4 miles a day. But those were the precious moments with the kids — they grow up too fast so enjoy while you can. I’ll look forward to hearing what you’re doing. Do you ever visit the alligator place around St. Augustine?? Hubby and I were fascinated.
Catherine says
Another great recipe of yours ! I love spinach and blackberries plus all the other ingredients one of my favorite berries ( raspberries is the other ). Usually it is always strawberries everyone does but I am so glad you did blackberries ! The colors are gorgeous in the vinaigrette and salad. Either today or tomorrow I am going to make this salad. Thank you so much. You and your family have a wonderful weekend.