15 Minute Summer Mixed Berry Salad with Basil

This summer berry salad has blueberries, raspberries, sliced strawberries and feta over a bed of fresh basil and butter lettuce. The easy sweet and savory salad comes together in just a few minutes. Dairy-free/vegan options are included.

Be sure to check out more of my summer salads including my 25 minute gluten-free cold sesame pasta salad, chard cantaloupe salad and summer quinoa salad with fresh corn and blueberries.

Salad Dressing

This salad goes well with a citrusy vinaigrette like my super simple 6 ingredient blood orange vinaigrette or my 7 minute lemon vinaigrette that mixes up in the blender. A tart and sweet vinaigrette enhances the sweet berries and salty feta.

Ingredients

I start with a base of fresh, delicate butter lettuce, also known as Boston or bibb lettuce. I enjoy the mild slightly sweet flavor of butter lettuce. If you prefer peppery arugula or firm kale those will work in this salad as well.

This salad uses fresh strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. Fresh berries are best if they are in season (late spring/summer). It’s difficult to find sweet, flavorful berries during the off season and unfortunately frozen berries become too soft and watery to use in a salad.

Crumbled feta cheese adds a rich, creamy and salty element to this salad which is perfect with sweet berries. If you are vegan or dairy-free, there are some good vegan feta options available. I prefer Follow Your Heart Vegan Feta Crumbles. Violife also makes a vegan feta which has the flavor of goat’s milk feta.

The minty, earthy flavor of fresh basil adds another layer to this salad.

Finally, salads are wonderful with a crunchy ingredient. I enjoy walnuts with berries but slivered almonds would work well too. If you’re nut-free, toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds are a good substitute.

Make Ahead

The combination of delicate butter lettuce and delicate basil with the moisture from berries means that this salad should be assembled right before serving. The lettuce and basil would wilt if made too far ahead of time.

Here’s what you can do ahead of time so that all the ingredients are ready to go:

• Rinse the lettuce and let it sit in a wire basket to drain. Then roll in an absorbent kitchen towel to absorb any remaining moisture. Place it (rolled in the towel) in a plastic bag and refrigerate. Rinsed, with the excess water absorbed, will make for a crispy lettuce.
• The best way to assure that you’ll have fresh, perfect basil is to keep a basil plant in your kitchen! Rinse the basil under cold water, shake out the excess water and spread out on a towel to dry
• Rinse the strawberries, dry and slice. Place into a small bowl, cover and refrigerate.
• Rinse the blueberries and lay out on a towel to dry completely. Then refrigerate.
• Raspberries are delicate and don’t do well when rinsed under running water. It’s best to put them in a wire basket and dip the basket into a large bowl of water. Gently swirl in the water and drain. Immediately transfer the raspberries to an absorbent towel and gently blot away any remaining water droplets. Let them sit on the towel until completely dry.
• Chop the walnuts into small pieces.