Salads rule in the summertime, and this Antioxidant Blueberry Salad is fit for a king (or queen). Made with tender salad greens, fresh and dried blueberries, crumbled almond ricotta, toasted pecans, and a citrus champagne vinaigrette.
I love to make salads year round, but summer is definitely the best salad season. The farmers markets are packed with fresh berries and all sorts of amazing salad greens and herbs.
I call this recipe an antioxidant salad because it has antioxidant-packed foods such as blueberries (both fresh and dried) and pecans. And the rest of the ingredients are just all around healthy ~ arugula, almond ricotta, quinoa, citrus, onion and extra-virgin olive oil.
What is an antioxidant, exactly?
In a nutshell, no pun intended, antioxidants are beneficial compounds found in certain foods that protect our cells by fighting harmful molecules known as free radicals.
Some of the top antioxidant-packed foods include berries, dark chocolate (70% cacao or higher), kale, spinach, beans, artichokes, certain nuts, and more.
Antioxidant-packed berries from my local farmers market
For this salad I like to use either butter lettuce or arugula, but other greens such as mesclun, spinach or baby kale would be awesome.
And even though I use blueberries, you can sub any fresh berry if you don’t love bluebs. And currants or dried cherries or cranberries would be fab here.
Not a pecan fan? Sub walnuts, almonds, cashews or pistachios. Just be sure to toast them first (in a 350° oven for 8-10 minutes).
Or if you have a nut allergy use sunflower seeds and sub goat cheese or ricotta salata for the almond ricotta. By the way, Kite Hill is the brand that makes the amazing vegan almond milk ricotta, which is great anywhere you would use ricotta. Hello, lasagna!
Almond ricotta, pecans, fresh & dried bluebs
This salad is also great with butter lettuce
For the dressing I like to keep it light with a little shallot for flavor, dijon for tang, and honey for a touch of sweetness. Sub maple for vegan.
And the lemon and champagne vinegar add some bright acidity. Sub red wine vinegar or balsamic if you cannot find champagne vinegar. This Napa Valley Naturals is the brand of vinegar I like the most.
I like organic extra-virign olive oil here, but La Tourangelle makes amazing nuts oils that would go great here. Think almond, walnut or pistachio…
Use other berries in this salad to mix it up!
Here are some other salad add-ins if you want to mix up the recipe or make it an entrée style salad:
- avocado
- red onion
- cucumber
- other berries
- cherry tomatoes
- pumpkin seeds
- sunflower seeds
- quinoa (for plant protein)
- grilled chicken (for the meat eaters in the family)
I like to make mine with quinoa for extra plant protein
If you try this recipe leave a comment and let me know what you think, I love hearing from you! Or head over to my Instagram feed for more recipe posts and tag me there!
Find this salad “berry” delicious? Check these recipes out…
Butter Lettuce, Strawberry & Avocado Salad
Ricotta Toast with Macerated Berries
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 0 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
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- 1 tbsp minced shallot
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp champagne vinegar
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil or sub walnut or pecan oil
- 4-6 cups salad greens butter lettuce or arugula
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
- 1/2 cup dried blueberries
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans chopped
- 1/2 cup crumbled almond ricotta
- 1/2 cup cooked and cooled quinoa optional
Ingredients
Salad ingredients
|
|
- using a handheld blender and beaker or standard blender, puree all salad dressing ingredients, then season to taste with salt & pepper; double recipe if you like extra dressing on your salads (this one yields about 1/3 cup)
- in a large bowl toss all ingredients with desired amount of dressing and serve right away
- recipe serves 4 as a side, 2 as a main
- see blog post for recipe tips and brand recs
Original recipe created by Jerran Boyer
www.healthnutchefs.com