Recipe: Blueberry spinach salad with honey-Dijon vinaigrette
This pretty spring salad is loaded with nutrition from blueberries, spinach, Brussels sprouts and other vegetables. Debbie Arrington
How healthy can one salad get?
This surprising spring salad is a variation of the popular strawberry-spinach combo, but in this version, blueberries provide the juicy bursts of sweet-tart crunch.
Shredded Brussels sprouts and grated carrots add more texture – and antioxidants. A just-right honey-Dijon vinaigrette melds everything together.
Blueberry spinach salad with honey-Dijon vinaigrette
Makes 2 to 4 servings
Ingredients:
½ cup blueberries
2 tablespoons pecans, chopped
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup carrot, grated
2 tablespoons red onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 cup Brussels sprouts, shredded
2 cups baby spinach
For vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
In a large bowl, combine blueberries, pecans, raisins, grated carrot, red onion, celery and shredded Brussels sprouts. Lightly toss.
Make vinaigrette: In a jar or bowl, combine lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, mustard and honey; shake or stir to blend. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour vinaigrette over blueberry mixture in bowl. Lightly toss. Add spinach; toss to combine.
Serve.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests
June 3: Make your own compost
May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?
May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days
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May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of June 15
Make the most of this “average” weather; your garden is growing fast! (So are the weeds!)
* Warm weather brings rapid growth in the vegetable garden, with tomatoes and squash enjoying the heat. Deep-water, then feed with a balanced fertilizer. Bone meal can spur the bloom cycle and help set fruit.
* Generally, tomatoes need deep watering two to three times a week, but don’t let them dry out completely. That can encourage blossom-end rot.
* From seed, plant corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.
* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.
* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias. It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.
* Pull weeds before they go to seed.
* Let the grass grow longer. Set the mower blades high to reduce stress on your lawn during summer heat. To cut down on evaporation, water your lawn deeply during the wee hours of the morning, between 2 and 8 a.m.
* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.
* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.
* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.
* Mulch, mulch, mulch! This “blanket” keeps moisture in the soil longer and helps your plants cope during hot weather. It also helps smother weeds.
* Thin grapes on the vine for bigger, better clusters later this summer.
* Cut back fruit-bearing canes on berries.
* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.
* Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to encourage a second bloom in the fall.
* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.
* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.
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