Main Dish Summer Berry Salad

With fresh summer berries still in the grocery store ad circulars, there's time to make a hearty salad part of the summertime dinner plan.

A few weeks ago, I met Kim from Sunflower Supper Club in Hutchinson at a blogging event and checked out her website when I got home. Several of her summery salads immediately caught my eye. I used her Raspberry and Blue Cheese Salad and homemade dressing for inspiration and made a few changes along the way.

I love main dish salads in the summer. Randy likes them, too, but, in his estimation, some sort of protein needs to be included. And he'd prefer it not be chicken. I thought salmon was the perfect accompaniment to the fruity flavors in this meal; however, seasoned and grilled steak or chicken would work well, too.

Prepare the salmon fillets in a nonstick pan sprayed with cooking spray. Cook until done and the outside is slightly browned. At the end, drizzle a little of the raspberry dressing over the top of each filet. Cook until it starts to brown and remove the fish from the pan. The dressing adds another layer of flavor to the fish. 

You can use any kind of salad greens from a spring mix to romaine to spinach. I used romaine because it's what I had in the refrigerator. I used raspberries and blueberries, since both were on sale. But different (and additional) fruits could easily be substituted to take advantage of the weekly grocery ads or to suit family's members' taste buds.

We had more dressing than we needed for our two main dish salads. Just store the extra in the fridge and use the next time you make a fruity salad. Enjoy!

 Summer Berry Main Dish Salad
 with Salmon

Adapted from Sunflower Supper Club

Serves 2 for main dish

2 (3 to 4 ounce) skinless salmon filet (salted and/or seasoned)
1 pkg. baby spring greens (or chopped romaine, spinach or other greens)
1 pkg. fresh raspberries, divided
1 cup fresh blueberries
4 oz. feta cheese (or blue cheese)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4-1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (depending on whether you're using as a a main dish or individual salads)

Dressing
10 raspberries
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. dried tarragon (or 3 tbsp. fresh)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup olive oil

To toast walnuts:  Place on a cookie sheet in a 350-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes, taking care not to burn them. Toast the nuts before you chop them for less a chance they'll burn.

For the dressing, combine the 10 raspberries, vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, tarragon and salt in the bowl or a food processor or blender. Process until the raspberries are pureed. With the processor running slowly, pour the oil through the chute until combined.

Prepare the salmon fillets in a nonstick pan sprayed with cooking spray. Cook until done and the outside is slightly browned. At the end, drizzle a little of the raspberry dressing over the top of each filet. Cook until it starts to brown and remove the fish from the pan.

While the salmon is cooking, divide the lettuce on two dinner plates. Top with raspberries and blueberries. Add feta, onions and walnuts. Add the salmon filet to each plate. Drizzle with dressing, as desired.

Note:  The original recipe didn't use the salmon, but I wanted to make it a main dish salad for summer. You could also divide it among more servings as a side dish and leave out the salmon. (I did include the link to the original recipe in the text, if you want to check out the other Kim's version!)