Enjoy this colorful and tasty salad this summer. Use as many locally sourced ingredients as possible for the most robust flavor. For even more color, add orange melons and/or stone fruit (apricots, peaches, plums, or cherries) if they are available. For the mind, try eating more melons and blackberries. These two foods are naturally low in sugar and good for the brain.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups baby spinach or mixed salad greens, rinsed and dried
- 1 pint fresh blackberries
- 3-4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 green onion, sliced
- ¼ cup finely chopped walnuts or locally grown pecans or pistachios (optional)
- ¼ cup edible flowers (optional)
Dressing:
- 5-6 over-ripe blackberries from your pint for the salad
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 basil leaves, finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper
Make the Salad: In a large bowl, toss together spinach, some of your blackberries, feta, tomatoes, onion and walnuts.
Make the Dressing: Mash the blackberries on a plate with a fork and add to a glass jar. Add the lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, basil, and salt and pepper. Taste and add more ingredients as needed.
Combine: Pour the dressing over the salad and garnish with edible flowers.
Salad recipe by Christina Keibler. Dressing recipe and photos by Alison Penn.Â
Cook’s note: This was one of Christina Keibler’s recipes from 2017 that I revised and added my own spin on. Christina, former Engagement Director, passed away in 2022, but her legacy of delicious, locally grown and raised food-based recipes lives on at the New Mexico Farmers’ Marketing Association.
Local ingredients used
- Tucumcari Mountain Feta
- Cherry tomatoes from Rockhouse Farms (bought at FARMesilla)
- Pecans from NM Pecan Company
- Edible flowers (zinnias and marigolds) from Root Mother Farm
- Basil from Pata Viva Farm
