Blueberry Salad

I’ll admit it, I’ve never been a great lover of blueberries.

Until recently.

Honestly, I think I held a grudge against them after my mom used them to replace chocolate chips in my pancakes and muffins when I was little. Since them, I generally avoided them unless I was offered some. When I started playing around with my red, white and blue baked oatmeal though, I had a few and, what do ya know, I now fancy them.

Coincidentally, new neighbors moved in down the street earlier this year and own a huge blueberry patch in their front lawn. Previous owners either neglected the berries charged people to pick them. These people, however, are my new favorite people because they invited my whole street to come to their house last Saturday and pick as many blueberries as we wanted FOR FREE.

And free is so me.

Screw the heat, I was out there for a good 2 hours with my dad (who plopped the berries into his mouth rather than the bucket) and then went back again later by myself to double our amount. In total, we got 8 cartons of fresh, non-sprayed blueberries. Score!

And you know you come into a complete circle when you voluntarily decide to make blueberry pancakes and muffins with them 🙂

Not to mention, a lot of this…

Blueberry Salad 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup raw almonds

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper

2 cups fresh organic blueberries

8 cups fresh spinach

1/2 cup frozen corn

2 tbsp grated goat cheese

Directions: 

Roast almonds in a 325 degree oven for 6 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pour over a bowl containing blueberries. Let sit for 10 minutes. Place spinach in your salad serving bowl. Top and toss with almonds, blueberries and balsamic dressing, corn, and goat cheese.

 

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