Strawberry Spa Salad Recipe with Almond Vinaigrette

Nearly a decade ago, I featured this fresh strawberry spa salad from A Century of Flavors. It’s a cookbook by the family-run producer of pure extracts, Nielsen-Massey. Today I’m doing a full update on this recipe post, and I’ve added a few options.

This “spa” salad is a light, healthy, and flavorful way to enjoy the best produce of summer. If you want to make it a light meal, then top it with cooked chickpeas (for vegan) or grilled chicken (for just dairy free).

Special Diet Notes: Strawberry Spa Salad

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, plant-based, vegetarian, and optionally paleo.

Strawberry Spa Salad with Almond Vinaigrette

Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

This recipe was shared with us by Patsy Kreitman of Paper Palate when she wrote a review on A Century of Flavors. The recipe is originally from that cookbook, and was reprinted with permissions.

Author: Nielsen-Massey Vanillas

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

Almond Vinaigrette

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon Madagascar bourbon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon white pepper
½ cup non-GMO canola oil (can sub almond oil or your favorite oil for dressing)
¼ cup natural rice vinegar

Strawberry Spa Salad

10 ounces baby spinach leaves torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup strawberries, thinly sliced, plus additional for garnish
½ red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup sliced almonds, plus additional for garnish

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the mustard, maple syrup, vanilla extract, almond extract, salt, and pepper until smooth. Add the oil in a fine stream, whisking constantly until incorporated. This will help to emulsify your salad dressing. Add the vinegar slowly, whisking constantly.
Put the spinach, strawberries, onion, and almond in a large bowl and gently toss to combine.
Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to coat.
Garnish with additional strawberries and almonds.