I have been reading my Reader’s Digest Low Calorie Cookbook for quite some time now. I had been eyeing a recipe for Mixed Salad Leaves with flowers and blueberries for a long time, and I finally decided to give it a go a couple days ago.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to make the salad just like the recipe states. Many ingredients such as flowers are just not available in the grocery stores (we do grow nasturtiums in the garden but they won’t be blooming for quite a few more months).

I compromised on many ingredients and basically created my own salad recipe that was inspired by the salad in my Reader’s Digest Cook book.

I used mixed salad greens that included arugula (which was in the recipe) that I was unable to find by itself in any grocery store here. I also used strawberries instead of blueberries because I couldn’t justify paying the same price for a tiny container of blueberries when the strawberry container was huge. I used garlic sprouts instead of the alfalfa sprouts that the recipe called for. I think the garlic sprouts where a great substitution because they gave the salad a nice “zing” that I don’t think alfalfa sprouts could have achieved.

My strawberry and sprout salad turned out really well. I was a bit nervous about how the strawberries would taste in it since blueberries are a lot more sour then strawberries,  but the salad was amazing! It’s sweet, and tangy, and oh so refreshing. I felt like I was eating lunch and dessert all at the same time since the strawberries were nice and sweet. It was a great salad which I will be making again today for lunch

Here is the recipe.

Strawberry and Sprout Salad

Mixed salad greens
Garlic sprouts
Several fresh strawberries cut into small pieces

Honey mustard dressing
2-3 tbsp Olive oil
3-4 tbsp Lemon juice
About 1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
A few shakes salt
A few shakes black pepper

Add all the greens, sprouts, and cut up strawberries into a salad bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl add the olive oil, and mustard. Stir to combine. Add the lemon juice and stir well. Pour over salad. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.