If you're not eating a garden-fresh salad daily at this time of year, are you really doing summer right? We think not!
Like any top-quality cookbook, My Cypriot Table by Irene Matys offers unique, delicious recipes to cook up year-round, but it's hard to deny that this Cypriot-Canadian cookbook shines its brightest during the summer months. Born and raised in a country known for its sunshine, olive groves, ever-ripe produce and seafood, freshness is at the forefront of many recipes by the Toronto-based recipe developer and food personality.
A great example of this—especially at this time of year—is this recipe for a beautifully-deconstructed spinach and strawberry salad comes to life flavour-wise thanks to an addictive tahini dressing. It's something hat you'll want to drizzle on everything, not just the in-season produce and salty, crumbly feta that Matys' recipe calls for!
"This salad might sound like a mouthful, but trust me, it’s a mouthful of amazingness! It combines the flavours of sunny Cyprus with in-season early summer Ontario produce," explains Irene Matys about this simple, but rewarding salad recipe. "This salad is the perfect mix of crunchy and creamy, with a dash of sweet and savoury."
Strawberry Spinach Arugula and Feta Salad with Tahini Poppyseed Vinaigrette recipe by Irene Matys
Tahini Poppyseed Dressing
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp tahini
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp poppyseeds
1 tsp sea salt
To make the dressing, in a medium bowl, whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, mustard, poppyseeds, and salt until creamy.
Salad
4 cups arugula
4 cups fresh baby spinach
⅓ cup thinly sliced red onions 6 strawberries, thinly sliced
⅓ cup crumbled sheep’s milk feta
6 to 8 fresh mint leaves
⅓ cup bite-sized croutons*
To make the salad, arrange the arugula, spinach, red onions, strawberries, feta, and mint on a chilled serving platter.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and top with croutons.
*Matys uses bite-sized pieces of homemade pastelaki (a type of honey-nut brittle) which can be made with a recipe found in her cookbook. An easy storebought alternative with similar crunchiness and sweetness would be sesame brittle.
- Yield:
- Serves 4 to 6
