I'd planned to make soup for Foodie Friday, but when Dr. Gollum brought home pansies, my culinary plans changed. I decided to make a fresh, colorful composed salad with strawberries, roasted nuts, bacon/country ham, and the edible flowers.
You can learn about edible flowers here:
or here:
Spring Salad
Mixed organic greens
fresh strawberries, sliced
chopped chives
toasted nuts
bacon & country ham--fried, drained, and chopped
organic pansies (make sure no pesticides have ever touched them)
Strawberry Vinaigrette*
1 T strawberry puree
1 T balsamic vinegar
3 T extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
If you like a sweeter dressing, add honey (or artificial sweetener) to taste.
*Adapted from a Rachael Ray vinaigrette at Food Network.
There's still one more week to add your name to the hat for the 20-piece Treble Clef flatware, which will be given away next Friday (March 26th).
The details are HERE.
You can read about the Kitchenaid give-away
and the Le Creuset pear casserole give-away on Facebook
Read about them at Designs by Gollum contest info.
You're invited to add your foodie photos in the Foodie Friday Flickr gallery with a link to your blog so others can find your recipe.
I'm linking to Cindy at My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday. Her blog is delicious!
Mr. Linky awaits your Foodie Friday permalink, the name of your blog (or your name), and a hint about your recipe. If this is your first time to participate in Foodie Friday, you'll find a how-to guide HERE.
Mixed organic greens
fresh strawberries, sliced
chopped chives
toasted nuts
bacon & country ham--fried, drained, and chopped
organic pansies (make sure no pesticides have ever touched them)
Strawberry Vinaigrette*
1 T strawberry puree
1 T balsamic vinegar
3 T extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
If you like a sweeter dressing, add honey (or artificial sweetener) to taste.
*Adapted from a Rachael Ray vinaigrette at Food Network.
There's still one more week to add your name to the hat for the 20-piece Treble Clef flatware, which will be given away next Friday (March 26th).
The details are HERE.
You can read about the Kitchenaid give-away
and the Le Creuset pear casserole give-away on Facebook
Read about them at Designs by Gollum contest info.
You're invited to add your foodie photos in the Foodie Friday Flickr gallery with a link to your blog so others can find your recipe.
I'm linking to Cindy at My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday. Her blog is delicious!
Mr. Linky awaits your Foodie Friday permalink, the name of your blog (or your name), and a hint about your recipe. If this is your first time to participate in Foodie Friday, you'll find a how-to guide HERE.
Michael, that is WAY too pretty to eat. Simply gorgeous! And the cloth just sets the whole composition off perfectly- fabulous! Thanks so much for hosting. this is our favorite party!
ReplyDeletexoxo Allie and Pattie
That looks as beautiful as it does yummy! What a treat for spring!
ReplyDeleteThat is just gorgeous. And one more time - Pear, Kitchen Aid, treble clef!!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful salad and it sounds delicious too. So pretty with the edible flowers. It looks like a work of art!
ReplyDeleteChristi @ A Southern Life
I love using edible flowers in salads and desserts. We have a wild purslane that is wonderful sauteed with onions and garlic.
ReplyDeletebee blessed
mary
Wow, that salad looks fantastic! Actually, way too pretty to eat!
ReplyDeleteJustine :o )
What a beautiful salad! I was thinking of a Springtime salad today, yum!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for hosting!
~Liz
So vibrant and beautiful - and I agree with previous comments: too nice to eat!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to be participating again this week!
That salad is way too beautiful! The edible flowers are beautiful. It sounds so eligant:)
ReplyDeleteOh my what a beautiful salad!! And it looks so delicious too! I'll definitely be giving this a try soon.
ReplyDeleteI did a salad this week too ;)
ReplyDeleteWe love strawberry salads! Yours looks so beautiful with the edible flowers and the dressing sounds wonderful with the strawberry puree and balsamic.
well now...I have grown a few million flowers in my time, but I can honestly say I have never eaten a pansy!
ReplyDeleteyou always post the most beautiful meals girl...
today you could link to fertilizer friday and flaunt those flowers! haahaha!!!
Such a lovely colorful salad! I ready to sit down, after seeing the lovely tea setting you just did! Love the info on edible flowers! I just love to add flowers as garnish. I should eat them more often. But I love to see them growing and can't bare to part with such a lovely scene of blooming flowers!
ReplyDeleteYes, I want the treble clef flatware!
i without a doubt love your own writing way, very interesting.
ReplyDeletedon't give up and keep posting considering the fact that it simply that is worth to follow it.
excited to view additional of your own content, enjoy your day ;)
oH, I do believe this is the most beautiful salad, ever. It looks delicious. I love strawberries with my salad greens...ummm..treble clef....:)
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful and it looks delicious! The perfect salad for a springtime tea party!
ReplyDeleteOh that salad! I must try it is beautiful! Thank you for sharing. We made Shrimp and Grits at the blog plantation!
ReplyDeleteThis makes me want to jump right in--those fabulous rainbow colors!I make a similar salad every Easter and the pansies would be the perfect addition--and so edible with treble clef flatware :) Your photos are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteMichael Lee, Is it art or is it food? So very beautiful and constructed with great care! I love this salad. It would thrill me to serve it on my side porch to a couple of good friends with a bottle of prosecco! And that vinaigrette! I can just taste it's lusciousness! Wouldn't it be lovely with grilled peaches, too? This is a keeper recipe, for sure! My daughter will just adore it too- I must send her an e-mail with a link. As usual you are my blog of choice for good taste and things that taste good!
ReplyDeleteYvonne
Farm Muse's have eaten a lot of things that make our city friends think we are off our rocker...LOL
ReplyDeleteI will never forget our guests faces when my beloved served dandelions...
LOL
Great post!
Definitely a great salad and the flowers are a super twist.
ReplyDeleteDomesticProductions15.com
Thanks for the pear giveaway!
WoW! What a beautiful salad!! I think I gain weight every week reading these posts - Susan's brownies did me in. When I go to the Dr. next week I am going to tell him my weight gain is due to everyone's wonderful recipes posted on Foodie Friday. Wonder what his response will be ?!?! :-D
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend.
Your salad looks so good, it would go great with my homemade strawberry vinegar/vinaigrette come look www.themotherhuddle.com
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you for the dressing recipe! I love salads like this and do several different ones and this dressng will be perfect! Now: TREBLE CLEF!!!!!:):) Gosh I hope I win:):) XO, Pinky
ReplyDeletethis salad looks too good to eat with the TREBLE cutlery, served in the PEAR piece and after whipping up the salad dressing with the CUISINART mixer.
ReplyDeleteSylvia
So pretty and colorful!
ReplyDeleteThat is such a pretty salad...so colorful and it looks really tasty!
ReplyDeleteThis salad really does say spring! It's sooo pretty! And bacon and ham, yum! Mary :O)
ReplyDeleteHi Michael. I took my rainbow cake to my mother's St. Pat day celebration last night. I also took her a big stack of Michael Lee West books to read! She was thrilled with both. Hope you have a great week.
ReplyDeleteThat salad looks so beautiful! Almost too pretty to eat!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how beautiful this salad is..I've had strawberry salad before but nothing like this....
ReplyDeleteDefinitely too pretty to eat.
Beautifiul presentation. Edible flowers add a lot to the plate.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post! As always, your photographs are just amazing. Thanks for hosting Foodie Friday.
ReplyDeleteI love pansies in salads. It's so spring!!!! It's nice to look down and see your food smiling back!
ReplyDeleteA work of art!!! So lovely and I can't believe you can eat the flowers!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting Michael!
Happy FF
Robin
All Things Heart and Home
The Flowers are amazing... I hope you can forgive my double entry... or erase it... I guess we were both in a composed salad mood this week! Yours is gorgeous... I miss plucking blossoms from my garden... especially the borage... they are really amazing! Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteWhat a treat for the eyes today! To say nothing of the other senses. ;-) WOW!
ReplyDeleteI linked up my recipe review/testing of some amazing flourless brownies ... sunbutter, honey (love using our bees' honey!), and, of course, chocolate, are key ingredients!
Shirley
Your photos are absolutely beautiful! I'm a horticulturist by profession, so any addition of flowers is so fun to see!
ReplyDelete~Aubree Cherie
Sweet greetings from Frog Hollow Farm! This beautiful salad is a feast for the eyes. Marvelous! Ciao, Bella!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! That salad is a work of art!
ReplyDeleteYour salad looks amazing! I love strawberries in salad, and yours is beautiful, especially with the pansies added in.
ReplyDeletePass the plate, please! That looks scrumptious!
ReplyDeleteSo colorfully delicious looking salad. How do you know I like strawberries in my salad? :-)
ReplyDeleteYou never cease to amaze me. This not only looks and sounds delicious it is BEAUTIFUL!!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! Michael, I honestly gasped when the first photo appeared...breathtakingly beautiful. I've used strawberries in summer salads before but never edible pansies & never with your flair. Outstanding!
ReplyDeleteThat old Doris Day song, "Please Don't Eat the Daisies!" came to mind!
ReplyDeleteThe salad look delicious...and so Spring like...
Thank you for hosting, ML, and thanks for taking part in the blog crawl!
That looks like a delicious salad. I love the way you photographed it.....beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend. Denise@cottagesisters
The prettiest salad ever!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful salad that HAS to be good with the included bacon and ham!... but what I'm happy to see is your recipe for strawberry vinaigrette. There's a local restaurant that serves the BEST salad with a similar dressing so I'll have to test yours.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful and colorful salad. love strawberries and can't get enough of it.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous salad, much too pretty to eat! I've tried edible roses, but not pansies. Thanks for the recipe, it's definitely going into my must try recipe folder!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Tina
Your salad is just lovely. While I use the edibles during the Christmas holidays, I neglect them at other times of year. My bad! You've inspired me. I hope all is well and, of course, thank you for the effort you make to make this meme possible for the rest of us. Blessings...Mary
ReplyDeleteBeautiful salad... love the pansies, must be the season because I used them too. This is my first time ever using Mr. Linky; thanks for making it easy and lovely.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous salad and thanks so much for the links on edible flowers. Yvonne :)
ReplyDeleteThat salad is a delicously yummy way to welcome spring!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Deborah in NC
What a gorgeous looking salad...it would be perfect for a spring/summer luncheon! I make a similar slad but yours has some extra ingredients that would take it over the top!
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite edible flower is nasturiums! I love the peppery bite of them. This salad is lovely!
ReplyDeleteI would love to serve my salad with the treble clef tableware!
ReplyDeleteIt's too pretty! I don't think I would be able to actually eat it, I would get distracted just staring at it :) thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteYour salad is beautiful...perfect for Spring!
ReplyDeleteThis is so gorgeous! How sweet of you to embed those video clips.
ReplyDeleteYour food look so gorgeous! Thank you for liking my dish - I only have a couple of nice things. So you can give me any of your handy downs any day! Love, ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredibly gorgeous presentation!
ReplyDeleteHow was it eating those pansies?
Yvonne from Stone Gable said it all... what great comments she leaves!
Love visiting here~ as do so many others, Michael Lee ~ Thank you for hosting!
~Maria
Love the spring salad - and the strawberry vingarette. In fact trying it it this weekend -. I would to win the treble clef tableware. Would look so well with my Butler Pantry's dishes...
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend.
OMGOSH! another work of art from Michael's kitchen! laurie
ReplyDeletebe still my heart... prettiest thing i have seen in ages! i am knee deep in dirt everyday now, this took my breath away... may i use a pic for a header at fws or a while?
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful salad! Your photos are just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSusan
What a gorgeous salad. Those colors skip right over spring and scream SUMMER! Thanks for brightening my day :-)
ReplyDeleteThat salad looks too pretty to eat : ) LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteLOVE your salad pics! Looks very yummy, just in time for spring!!
ReplyDeleteYou make me want to go out and buy pansies and strawberries. It's just like a picture of springtime on a plate.
ReplyDeleteI make a similar salad but without the bacon or ham. Sounds good and I'll have to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI would love for you to stop by for a visit and enter my giveaway.
Well, I think this is THE MOST GORGEOUS salad I've ever seen anywhere anytime. It looks like a painting. I may have to bookmark this one to revisit daily! Thanks for sharing this and for least I forget, "treble clef. " Hope it's in my future!!!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm way too conservative but I don't see how it is possible to make a salad with strawberries, onion and cabbage, they are not compatible.
ReplyDeleteI agree; but cabbage isn't an ingredient in this salad.
ReplyDelete