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.
15 Minute Summer Mixed Berry Salad with Basil
Ingredients
- 1 head butter lettuce (aka Boston or bibb lettuce)
- 1 c packed, fresh basil leaves, stems removed
- 6-8 medium sized fresh strawberries
- Β½ c fresh blueberries
- 1 c fresh ripe but firm raspberries (about 5 ounces)
- ΒΎ c crumbled feta cheese (vegan feta – Follow Your Heart and Violife are good subs)
- Β½ c chopped walnuts
Instructions
- See instructions above for making this salad ahead of time. It should not be assembled until right before serving.
- Raspberries are delicate and should not be rinsed under running water. To rinse them, place in a wire strainer and dip into a bowl of cold water. Immediately transfer them to an absorbent kitchen towel and gently blot to absorb excess water. Let them sit until dry.
- Rinse the blueberries and strawberries and dry on a towel.
- Rinse the lettuce and basil under cold water. Shake out the excess water and transfer to an absorbent kitchen towel to dry. It is important that the ingredients are dry. This will prevent the lettuce and basil from wilting.
- Tear the lettuce into bite size pieces and transfer to a large salad bowl.
- Tear the large basil leaves into bite size pieces. Smaller leaves can be left whole. Add to the lettuce and toss to combine.
- Top the salad with sliced strawberries, whole raspberries and blueberries.
- Sprinkle with crumbled feta and walnuts.
- Do not toss the salad with dressing in the serving bowl. It will wilt very quickly. Portion out onto plates or into bowls and serve with dressing on the side.
- This is perfect with a citrusy dressing like my blood orange vinaigrette or 7 minute blender lemon vinaigrette.
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