strawberry fields avocado quinoa salad with poppyseed vinaigrette

Hope ya’ll don’t have to take a drug test the day following this dinner!

No but seriously, it’s an apparent concern amongst athletes/job seekers/etc: poppyseeds trigger a positive opioid result. I do wonder about the efficacy of the tests used when this particular shit occurs, but apparently it does, and peeps are advised to not consume anything with poppyseeds a few days prior to the scheduled (or unscheduled) occurrence.

So yeah. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

In pursuit of all the color again, and quinoa salad felt right this week. A lot of our afternoons lately have been hazy, even with the arrival of a brief cool front that lowered temps to a manageable, springlike level: mid 80s in the afternoon and low-60s at night, which is pretty swell for me. But we’ve had a lot of clouds obscuring the bright skies, and weird filtered rays shooting through my windows. My moods aren’t quite sure what to do with that information.

Whatever you’re dealing with, some fresh produce is never a bad plan. I find it rather cheery myself. When I created this dish, I thought of the time my mom and I visited a hydroponic farm in Sarasota and picked strawberries. It was a couple weeks before I left for a six month foray in Sweden (study abroad. So long ago) and we’d made a random list of things to do before I headed overseas. Strawberry picking was one of them, and I’m pretty sure we used some of those berries in my pancakes the morning I flew out.

Goes to show, small associations sometimes mean a lot. I love strawberries most of all the berries, and working with them brings me a bit of joy and comfort. This salad is a combination of all the things I love: a bit of crisp and crunch, a good amount of protein from quinoa, herbs, and a tangy homemade dressing. So long as you have leftover quinoa in your fridge, you needn’t cook anything. Simply some chopping, shaking, and tossing.

Pop Goes the Poppyseed

As far as inspiration goes, I also remembered the strawberry poppyseed salad from Panera that I’d often order in their pick-two arrangement. Do they even do that anymore? I haven’t visited in probably two years so I’m not even sure of the menu now. But it was always a nice little treat.

This dressing is lovely and minimal. Don’t even gotta mince garlic, which is typical in my homemade vinaigrettes. Get your hands on some poppyseeds, they’re usually right by the rest of the spices in the grocery store and aren’t expensive. Shake them up with some olive oil, fresh lemon juice (don’t use the bottled shit), cider vinegar, maple syrup or honey, dijon mustard, and some salt and pepper.

Frolicking In a Pasture

The sheer amount of color in this recipe gives me happy feels. I mean, look at that shit. Glorious.

If you don’t have quinoa already cooked, you will need to take a little time to whip up a batch. You can use quick-cooking microwaved quinoa, that’s just fine (done that before) or whatever method you usually use. I just plop mine in the rice cooker and let ‘er rip. Make sure you let it cool to room temp before you make the salad.

Then, chop up lots of goodies. Fresh strawberries, lots of baby cucumbers (a regular hot house cucumber is dandy), an avocado, fresh herbs of choice – whatever you’ve got on hand – and some Tuscan or regular kale. I like kale in this because it holds up to the moisture in the fruits and veggies and the dressing. Gather up some pepitas or sunflower seeds and a heap of crumbled feta, too.

Give the kale a good ole massage in a big bowl with a couple spoonfuls of dressing. This softens and reduces the bitterness in the leaf. It always surprises me how many folks don’t realize that this is the way to make raw kale palatable. Now you know there’s life beyond Bitter Greens Face.

Toss in the rest of the shit in the bowl, drizzle some more dressing, and channel your inner head chef and flip everything around like a madman with your salad tongs. Try not to get it on the floor. If you do, well, the five second rule exists for a reason.

Serve your salad with the rest of the dressing and more fresh herbs if you please. A bit more feta never hurt a man, either. It’s just betta.

If you want to intensify the awesome of the meal, try stuffing the salad into a big tortilla and rolling it up into a wrap, or get some chips and use them to scoop up portions. The specific “scoop-style” chips are perfect for the task.

A dish like this is sure to bring happy feels. Least for me, and I’m a grumpy old fuck, so if something can make me joyous, it probably will you, too.

Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!

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