Taste Life Blog

Summer brings strawberries (I call them nature’s candy) and spinach from your garden. All you need to make this salad are your pantry basics of olive oil and honey and you have got a salad ready to go. With only 5 ingredients  this salad took 10 minutes to make for my mastermind club and St. Hubert’s Catholic Church Ambassador Picnic.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

½ cup honey

½ cup olive oil

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries, divided

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

8 cups fresh baby spinach

Combine honey, olive oil, mustard and 1 cup strawberries in blender with salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Combine spinach and remaining cup of strawberries in serving bowl and toss with dressing. Toss to evenly coat and serve immediately.  Makes 8 servings

Nutrition: 180 Calories, 1 gm protein, 12.6 gm fat, 11.2 gm CHO, 189 mg sodium

This recipe is from the 5 Ingredient for Healthy Living Cookbook.

You can’t beat this “berry nutrition.” 1 cup is only 45 calories, 4 grams of fiber, and more vitamin C than 4 ounces of orange juice.

Data from the Harvard Women’s Health Study showed that women who had higher strawberry intake were more likely to lead a heart-healthy lifestyle. On average, women in the highest strawberry intake group ate about twice as many servings of fruits and vegetables every day as did women in the lowest intake group.

Strawberry Sauce

My favorite quick strawberry sauce is blending 2 pounds of strawberries which have been hulled and sliced with 3 tablespoons of sugar and a dash of vanilla extract. Makes about 3 ½ to 4 cups and is good for three days in your refrigerator. Serve over angel food cake or ice cream or make a trifle and layer with plain yogurt in a pretty parfait glass.