A celebration of the best early summer farmer’s market finds, this salad combines baby kale, cherries, and sugar snap peas with a delicious honey-basil vinaigrette.
Happy 4th of July weekend!
Maybe you want a salad in-between ice cream bites and rosé sips and poolside chats??? I’ve got you covered.
This salad was actually a lazy accident.
I had a totally different salad on my meal plan list but the recipe it was based on called for candying dried apricots and grating a half cup of ginger and about a million steps that I just couldn’t bring myself to do. It got really good reviews, so I’m sure it would have been worth it, but in that minute I wanted lunch and I wanted it NOW.
So instead, I just pulled out all the odds and ends from my fridge and tossed them into a bowl.
Voila! BEST SUMMER SALAD IDEA EVER. I might be doing that every week from now until September.
In the mix here we’ve got super sweet cherries, sugar snap peas, and baby kale. HOWEVER, you can just go to the farmer’s market and grab whatever looks good. I love the juicy bursts of cherry in this salad, so I highly recommend adding in at least one fruit.
The dressing is a sweet-tart blend of honey, balsamic vinegar, and fresh basil. The recipe makes way more than one salad needs, but it’s great to have a jar in the fridge for your spur-of-the-moment salad needs.
Fresh feta crumbles and roasted sunflower seeds are added just before serving for creaminess and crunch.
It’s so light and refreshing and I know you will absolutely love it!
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 4 tsp whole grain mustard
- 4 tsp honey
- 16 basil leaves, minced
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- 5 oz baby kale
- 1 lb sugar snap peas, strings removed
- 1 lb cherries, pitted and halved
- 4 oz feta, crumbled
- ½ cup roasted and salted sunflower seeds
- For the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, honey, and basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Toss all of the salad ingredients together just before serving. Add half the dressing and toss again.
- Serve with extra dressing and add to taste.
(That’s how I make all my salads! )