Two Berry and Walnut Salad

I've been cooking quite a few heavier dishes as of late, and I feel like it's time to lighten things up a bit. Enter my awesome wife Jenny. Last week she surprised me with this amazing salad in my lunch box.

It's not too fancy or too complicated. She started with a bed of organic spring mix, topped it with incredibly delicious strawberries (which were actually about as good as the ones we pick ourselves), fresh-picked blueberries and a few chopped walnuts. Rounding out the dish is a low-fat poppyseed dressing. That's it.

It's ironic that with all the complicated ingredients and intricate steps I so often find piled into my cooking that Jenny can trump me with a careful selection of flavors and textures. The fruit was exactly in season, extremely fresh and very sweet, and the walnuts added a delicious crunch to the mix. I think the poppyseed dressing was an inspired choice, as it bridged the gap between the sweet fruit and the more earthy flavors of the nuts and salad mix.

I mentioned to her that Alanna over at Kitchen Parade recently made a similar salad with strawberries marinated in balsamic vinager, and we both vowed to use similar methods in our next round of salads. The salad is approximately 5 points. You'll of course have to calculate it out for yourself.

Update 8/3/06 - This photo was entered in this month's Does My Blog Look Good in This photography contest!