29 Jul {National Salad Week}: Recipe for Strawberry Salad with Almonds and Feta

Intern Kylie here!

Happy National Salad Week!  I understand that these national celebration of food days/weeks/months are slightly out of hand.  I mean, we’ve already had National Blueberry Month, National Herbs and Spices Day, National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month and now…National Salad Week.  If you’re thinking, “Who comes up with all these national “whatever” days?!”…I’m right there with you.  But with salads like this one…I’m totally fine going along with National Salad Week.

This salad is actually one of Robin’s go-to’s for any night of the week or a special occasion. It’s one of those classic recipes that never goes out of style.  Plus, it has super trendy Marcona almonds in it.  Who doesn’t like trendy food?

The first time I tried Marcona almonds was 5 days ago.  Yes, I was late to this trend.  I was at the Dallas Morning News shadowing food stylist Jane Jarrell for the day (thank you for that opportunity, Robin) when we made a chocolate tart topped with Marcona almonds.  I’d seen the naked almonds at the grocery store before but I just thought they were plain ol’ almonds.  But they’re special.  Like there should be a National Marcona Almond Day…or even a National Marcona Almond Month.  And I didn’t even mention that almonds are brimming with muscle-building protein and heart-healthy fats.  Just another reason to love them even more.

I had told Robin that I’d only had Marcona almonds once and she told me to just wait until I toasted them.  So like any good intern, I promptly went to the grocery store, bought some almonds, toasted them and loved them…hence my suggestion for a National Marcona Almond Month.

And I mean since we’re designating national celebration days/weeks/months, we might as well make a National Feta Day because holy smokes I love feta.  Now there is already a National Berry Month (July) and we’re in National Salad Week so this super, simple salad recipe is worthy of celebration.  Plus, this recipe for strawberry salad is overflowing with vitamins, minerals and fiber.  Hooray for a healthy meal that has only 4 ingredients.

Yes, 4 ingredients.  Well, 5 ingredients when you add your dressing of choice.  But you get the point…it’s simple.  So simple that you don’t even have to turn on the oven/stove/grill to make it.  Robin suggests that “if you’d like to add more protein to the salad (it’s already there in the form of almonds and feta), keep cold grilled shrimp or chicken on hand. Frozen edamame (thawed) or canned light tuna packed in water and drained are also salad friendly protein sources.”

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