Peas and Wild Strawberry Salad with Elderberry Vinaigrette
There's an endless list of fresh or cooked ingredients we can mix with our salads. Really a lot if you are a keen salad eater. I do prepare more salads in summer than during the other seasons because our bodies need them. We need fresher and lighter food in the really hot days to digest the food easily. But with two kids to feed, salads are not enough to sustain them during summer. BUT there are times when I try to lure them with surprising ingredients to make them interested. It does work with my son because he already eats salads when he's in the right mood and I still need to work on my luring skills with my daughter who runs away from anything green.
My secret weapon in this salad is wild strawberries or fragoline in Italian. What makes them special is that they came from my kids' garden pots. Their plants have been around and giving us continuous fruit for the past six years. In the Dolomites, during our annual summer vacation, we always happen to be there during the season when the wild strawberries are out and from the time our son was two, he had been harvesting them on their own during our walks in the mountains. Since he loves them so much we were able to find a plant in the local plant shop to give him. We didn't didn't realize how easy they grow and how much fruit they yield. From one small plant, we multiplied our pots to three big ones that both kids (and dog) love picking and enjoy eating.
This is a very simple salad that to put together. If you cannot find the wild strawberries, then regular strawberries are also great. The peas are blanched for a couple of minutes so don't worry about the cooking part. Before you feel the heat of the stove, you are already done with cooking.
I created this Peas and Wild Strawberry Salad with Elderberry Vinaigrette recipe for Skinny Ms., a site about following a healthy lifestyle with some tips, resources and recipes to help you along.
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