We've had a busy winter in Florida this year and I've been cooking but using all my old recipes and favorites for a change. We had another Verandah Gourmet Chinese New Year here in January, a Irish Feast in March and a few other delightful meals using recipes on this blog.
Besides eating at home, we've discovered a few new restaurants (the Silver King Ocean Brasserie in the Luminary Hotel and Sip & Sizzle - both in downtown Fort Myers and Seventh South Craft Food and Drink in Naples); visited many old favorites (Jordan's Wine Bar, First Watch, the Boat House, McGregor Cafe, Cristoff's, Mainely Seafood in Burnt Store and Caffe Milano in Naples); and found that a few disappointed us this year (Chocolatte's and Brie and Blossoms, the new version of Rosy Tomorrow's in North Fort Myers). Further afield, we discovered two new restaurants in LaBelle to the east (Forrey Grill and the Launch on the water where you can watch seaplanes land and take off if you are lucky!) We also love the cozy little cafe in LaBelle, Bridge Street Coffee & Tea.
We cooked up Gerry's meatballs and my Ricotta Braid for the potluck for our graduation from the Florida Master Naturalist Program on April 11 in Charlotte County. My favorite of the day was this delicious Strawberry-Kiwi Spinach Salad made by Cathy, one of our instructors in the course. I didn't really need anything else to satiate my palate - this was a yummy lunch. Thanks, Cathy!
Strawberry-Kiwi Spinach Salad
- Fresh strawberries- washed and cut up into bite size
- Fresh kiwi ( just a little soft, not hard) washed and cut up into bite size; Cathy didn't peel the kiwi or take out the core but you can always do that)
- Baby spinach, washed & dried
- Chicken is optional but Cathy uses a generous amount of rotisserie chicken pulled apart in bite-sized pieces
Toss all these ingredients. Either toss these with the dressing or wait to add it right before serving.
Any locally-made, homemade, or store-bought strawberry poppyseed dressing
Toss, refrigerate, serve or if everything is cold serve immediately. It’s great
to make the salad a day ahead, adding the dressing right before serving and
then toss.
Additions to the salad can also be bacon, avocado, feta cheese, pecans, scallions and/or red onion.
There are lots of dressings found in the groceries or farmstands, and many online. Here's one.
