Make Me Make Dinner, Salad Edition (w/ a side of pork chop). 🍓🌕

Friends, you humor me! Thank you for hanging out while I made a chopped vegetable salad with strawberries in honor of the Strawberry Moon last night. I got the idea for this chopped veggie salad with fruit from a visit to Camino Alto the other night—an amazing restaurant right here on Union Street in San Francisco. The chef uses the cleanest, locally sourced ingredients and every time I eat there, I leave feeling like I did something good for my body. His “fancy” salad had beautiful plums, avocados, cashews, and some other fun stuff. Here’s what I put in mine:

1/2 English cucumber, seeded and diced

1/4 cup toasted almonds, chopped

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced (I “blanched” mine in ice water to make them a little less pungent)

6-8 strawberries, diced

2 Tbsp thinly sliced basil

Lemon Vinaigrette

Roasted Vegetables

Lemon Vinaigrette: I combined the juice of 1 lemon with a tablespoon of olive oil (or avocado), a pinch of salt, and 2 tsp of honey. Whisked it together and poured over the salad.

Roasted Vegetables: I roasted one bunch of sliced carrots and a head of chopped broccoli that were tossed with a tablespoon of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a teaspoon of fennel seeds at 425º for 30-40 minutes until crispy. I let them cool and then folded some of them into the salad.

This recipe is a total loose arrangement. Use any kind of nut you have, like cashews or walnuts. (I always appreciate toasted nuts so they have a little more flavor.) Or add a diced avocado at the end. Or switch up your herbs to anything you like!