Spinach Salad with Blueberry Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

We went blueberry picking the other day and after making a blueberry cream pie, blueberry muffins, and blueberry pancakes, I felt the need to use some of the blueberries for something healthy.  I genuinely do not like most store bought salad dressings so a few years ago I started making my own dressings.  More times than not I make a dressing in a small bowl for each individual salad (olive oil, some variety of vinegar, perhaps some lemon and/or dijon mustard, minced or powdered garlic, salt and pepper, and fresh herbs if they are available).  But I also like to get my food processor out and make a batch of something different.  Here is what I came up with using my blueberries…don’t be scared by the pink coloring — that just means it’s healthy (see below for the picture of one of my cookbooks entitled 12 Best Foods — blueberries made the cut!).  We thought it was a delicious and different type of salad.  It would be a fun side dish or entree for a girls luncheon or summer dinner party.

 

Ingredients:

Dressing (makes appx. 8 oz):

1 shallot, chopped (red onion or garlic would work)

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp white wine vinegar (if you don’t have this, you could use red wine vinegar, white vinegar, cider vinegar – I just didn’t want too much balsamic to overpower the blueberry flavor).

6 Tbsp. olive oil

½ cup fresh blueberries

2 tsp. honey

10 basil leaves

Salad:

spinach and arugula

crumbled goat cheese (or blue cheese)

blueberries

unsalted sunflower seeds (or toasted almonds or walnuts)

grilled or rotisserie chicken (optional)

Directions:

In food processor, combine all ingredients (except basil) until smooth.  Add basil and pulse chop until basil is combined.  Best if used right away, but you can store dressing in a mason jar in refrigerator for up to 4 days.