I discovered a new way to prepare and serve strawberries – roasted.
Experimenting with roasted strawberries produced some amazing concoctions: roasted strawberry shortcake, roasted strawberry ice cream sauce, and of course, roasted strawberries on a spoon. It’s a unique strawberry flavor. But my favorite creation to date is Roasted Strawberry Dressing.
I love pouring this dressing on a salad of fresh Arkansas ingredients. I use locally grown strawberries, pecans, spinach and green onions. Then, I top it with smoked turkey. Arkansas is the third in turkey production in the U.S. So that generous portion of turkey on top helps support Arkansas farmers while adding a healthy source of protein.
The instructions make more roasted strawberries than you will need for this recipe. However, you can store the remainder for up to a week and use to top shortcake, ice cream or just eat it right off the spoon.
ROASTED STRAWBERRY DRESSING ON TURKEY SPINACH SALAD
Prep Time:
Dressing – Roasting strawberries, 30 minutes
Chilling- 3 hours or overnight
Salad – 15 minutes
Servings: 6-8
Dressing Ingredients
- 1 pint strawberries, hulled and quartered
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
And then,
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Salad Ingredients
- 6 ounces baby spinach leaves, washed and stemmed
- 1 cup cubed smoked turkey
- 1 cup strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 1 cup pecans, halves or pieces
- 1 cup feta cheese
- 1 cup green onions
Directions for roasting strawberries:
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix pint of quartered strawberries, ½ cup sugar and vanilla.
- Pour mixture onto parchment lined baking sheet.
- Roast in oven for 35 minutes.
- Cool for 15 minutes.
- Pour strawberries and roasting juices into a storage container.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours until chilled or chill overnight.
Directions for dressing:
- After strawberries have chilled, measure out 1 cup of strawberries and juice and add to blender.
- Add olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar and salt to strawberries in blender.
- Pulse 10 to 15 seconds until smooth and blended.
- Pour into salad dressing decanter and store in refrigerator until ready to use.
Directions for salad:
- In a large salad bowl, place spinach leaves.
- Add turkey, strawberries, pecans, feta cheese and green onions.
- Pour on desired amount of dressing.
- Toss and serve.
Tip: I love to prepare all ingredients ahead of time and make individual salads for lunch – healthy, easy and delicious.
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 437
Calories from Fat: 344
Carbohydrates: 16.6 grams
Sodium: 634 milligrams
Arkansas Women Bloggers member Mary Wood is a lifetime lover of words. She hails from the suburbs of Nimrod, Arkansas where she is co-owner and number one stacker of wood in her family’s sawmill. She loves playing in the dirt and raising a zoo-load of animals on their family farm. Her passions include living life with her husband Steve, son Caleb and all-grown-up daughters Rebecca and Rachel and son-in-law Matt. Homeschooling, writing women’s Bible studies, and renovating their home fill up the remainder of her time. She blogs at Run of the Mill Mary.