Strawberry Salad with Balsamic Reduction

Strawberry salad with mozzarella, pecans, avocados and more makes a delicious summer dish. Add chicken to make a full meal!

Sometimes it’s just too hot to turn on the oven – especially in Nashville right now. Temperatures are supposed to hover around 100 for the next several days, so I’m trying to spend as little time as possible around my stove. That’s why I love this salad. It’s full of delicious tastes and textures and is just plain delicious. I’m picking up a rotisserie chicken to add even more protein to it and a simple dinner is done.

The first time I heard of strawberries and balsamic together, I did not think it sounded good. But once I tried it, I loved it! In my opinion, the tangy balsamic really does go great with the sweetness of the strawberries.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
• 1 c sliced strawberries
• 1 c halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 c halved mini mozzarella balls
• 1 ripe avocado, pitted and diced
• 1/3 c pecans
• 1 bag baby spinach
• 1/3 c fresh basil leaves, torn
• Rotisserie Chicken (optional)

In a small saucepan, bring the balsamic vinegar to a high simmer over medium heat. Stir it, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer until it thickens and reduces by about half. This will take 8-10 minutes. Just keep an eye on it.

Next, just put all the ingredients into a bowl and do a drizzle of olive oil over everything . Add some salt and pepper and toss everything gently. Finish it off by drizzling the balsamic over everything.

As I said, you can add some shredded rotisserie chicken to give it more protein and make it feel more like a meal. This is seriously a delicious salad.

Get creative with this and do all kinds of different combinations of ingredients that sound good to you. You could substitute different kinds of nuts – walnuts, pistachios, pine nuts, etc. Different fruits would also be good – peaches come to mind, but I’m sure others would work too. Feta could also be substituted for mozzarella. Whatever sounds good to you or whatever you have on hand.

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Strawberry Salad with Balsamic Reduction

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Ingredients

• 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
• 1 c sliced strawberries
• 1 c halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 c halved mini mozzarella balls
• 1 ripe avocado, pitted and diced
• 1/3 c pecans
• 1 bag baby spinach
• 1/3 c fresh basil leaves, torn
• Rotisserie chicken (optional)

Instructions

1

In a small saucepan, bring the balsamic to a high simmer over medium heat.

2

Stir, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the vinegar has thickened and reduced by half.

3

Put all the ingredients for the salad in a bowl.

4

Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and stir lightly.

5

Finally, drizzle with balsamic reduction.

6

Enjoy!