Nuts about Berries salad is a delicious, colorful and refreshing salad loaded with fresh berries.

Eating out is always fun, but sometimes you just crave fresh food at home. The best way to do that is by recreating those favorite items at home. Nuts about berries salad is one of those salads for me. It’s such a bright colorful salad loaded with all the good stuff…fresh berries, crumbled blue cheese, sliced avocado tossed with a homemade poppyseed dressing. This salad that is just perfect for the spring and summer months because it’s loaded with fresh and in season produce that makes this salad amazing. This salad is sure to steal the show.

What is needed to make Nuts about berries salad:

Shredded Roman Lettuce
Berries: blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or blackberries
Crumbled blue or gorgonzola cheese
Sliced avocado
Radishes, thinly sliced
Spicy candied nuts, like chopped pecans
Poppy seed dressing

How to make spicy candied nuts:

whole pecans, chopped
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of water
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon of salt

On the stove top combine the sugar and water along with the chopped pecans until the sugar is dissolved, be sure not to overheat the sugar because you do not want to burn it. Once the sugar is dissolved remove the pan from the heat, sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper and toss until completely coated.

Homemade Poppy seed dressing:

1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground dry mustard powder
1/4 onion, or red onion, grated fine
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds

In a blender combine all ingredients minus the poppy seeds and the oil and blend for 20 seconds. With the blender on high, gradually add the oil in a slow, steady stream until the dressing emulsifies. Finish it off by stirring in the poppy seeds.

Using fresh berries in a salad:

This salad can be made year round with the berries you find in your grocery stores, but if you have a farmers market and the berries are in season then go for the in season fresh berries. The prep for the berries for this salad is super easy, just rinse the chosen berries, larger berries like strawberries can be sliced and added into the salad.

Not a fan of spicy:

We used spicy candied pecans in our recipe but if you are not a fan of spicy foods then you can use just candied pecans or any other variation you like. If you are not a fan of pecans all together then you can substitute them with almonds. The possibilities are endless. You can use candied almonds, cinnamon candied almonds, cinnamon pecans. That’s the great thing about a recipe you can tweak it to make it your own and to your taste.

Cheese options:

We opted for either a crumbled blue cheese or a gorgonzola cheese because we enjoy the taste but you can also use feta cheese or even a goat cheese. Which ever cheese you choose to add it will be delicious. I will say that the crumbled gorgonzola or blue cheese really goes will with the poppyseed dressing.

Other additions:

We added radishes and avocado to our Nuts about berries salad but you can also add things like red onion, baby spinach, kale and even grilled chicken. You can make the salad as simple or complex as you like, so have fun while making this salad.