Strawberry Summer Salad-- 4/5 (assuming the dressing tastes alright with the right ingredients) fresh, summery stars!

As part of my summer list of things to do, I've been checking out cooking books from the library, and I found this great recipe! It did not show the serving size, so I just cut the recipe in half for myself, figuring I was hungry enough to eat a bear anyway.

So after getting the lettuce, strawberries, and walnuts ready, I went searching for the ingredients for the dressing-- and ruh roh-- no balsamic vinegar. I had apple cider vinegar and red wine vinegar. Figuring red wine vinegar was the best substitute, I whisked the dressing. Just as I was about to pour it on my beautiful salad, a thought came to me, "Should I try the dressing on a little piece of lettuce first?". The answer: Yes! I tried it and the response was a big ol' "bleh!". Then came on the shaking of the head and   scrunched up facial expression from the bitterness of it. Now, let me say, I am sort of a picky eater. So when I came upon this gross, gross taste, I asked my mom to taste it-- let's just say she had the same response. It may have been the substitute that made it so icky, so don't be afraid to try it at home if you actually have balsamic vinegar. But for me, I stuck with my Olive Garden Italian dressing to top the salad.

If anything, this salad was definitely a taste of summer. Yummy, filling, fresh, and delightful, the salad was overall pretty good! :)

Strawberry Summer Salad
-- from A Teen Guide to Creative Delightful Dinners by Dana Meachen Rau

Ingredients
6 cups loosely packed salad greens
8 to 10 strawberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2/5 ounces goat cheese, crumbled-- didn't have this around so I didn't use any cheese

I also added these for a little extra flavor:
1/4 cup raisins
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds


Instructions
1) Wash the salad green, dry, and place in a large salad bowl.
2) Cut each strawberry into quarters. Add to the greens.
3) Add the walnuts.
4) In a separate small bowl, beat the oil, vinegar, and sugar with the whisk until the liquids are no longer transparent.
5) Pour over the greens. Toss until well coated with dressing.
6) Sprinkle goat cheese on each serving. -- obviously I skipped this step