Strawberry Spinach Salad with Pecans and Goat Cheese

I love serving fresh fruit and vegetable salads during the spring and summer months.  This salad is not only delicious, but it is truly a colorful work of art.  I love the bright beautiful rainbow of colors in the fresh bright green spinach, red strawberries, and bright blueberries.  This salad serves 8 at approximately 150 calories per serving, not including the vinaigrette dressing.  The dressing has about 88 calories per Tablespoon.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Pecans and Goat Cheese

3 cups strawberries, washed, drained, and sliced in half
2 cups blueberries, washed and drained
16 oz. Baby Spinach, washed
1/2 cup pecans
3/4 cup Goat cheese crumbles

Rinse blueberries.

Wash and cut strawberries.

In a large bowl combine the strawberries, blueberries, spinach, pecans and Goat cheese.  Stir to combine.  Toss with Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing.

Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing with Honey

1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup Olive oil
1 Garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
1 Tablespoon honey

Place dressing ingredients in a screw top jar or cruet and shake to combine.  Adjust seasonings to taste.

Serve salad and toss with Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing to taste.

Berry Cream Cheese Crepes

I was in the mood for something a little different this morning.  I made healthy whole wheat crepes with a fat free cream cheese filling mixed with fresh berries.  They are very easy to make if you have a non-stick skillet.  This recipe yields 4 servings at approximately 250 calories each.  Adding 2 Tablespoons of plain greek yogurt as a garnish would add an additional 15 calories to each serving.

Whole Wheat Crepes

3 eggs
2/3 cup milk
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup whole wheat flour

Berry Cream Cheese Filling for Crepes

1 - 8 ounce package Fat Free Cream Cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 Tablespoons preferred sweetener or honey to taste
1 cup fresh mixed berries (I used blackberries and raspberries)
Fresh berries for topping and garnish
Plain greek yogurt or fat free sour cream can be used as a garnish

To Prepare the crepes:

Beat the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, salt and vanilla until they are combined, about 1 minute.  Next add the whole wheat flour and mix well.

Next, I poured the flour mixture into the blender and put it on the medium setting for about a minute.

Place the crepe mixture in the refrigerator and chill for about an hour.

To Prepare the Cream Cheese Filling

Measure 1 cup of fresh washed berries.

Place softened cream cheese, preferred sweetener (or sugar) and vanilla in a medium sized bowl and stir.  Add the fresh berries to the cream cheese mixture.

Stir gently until combined.

Refrigerate until ready to begin preparing crepes.

Add 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil to a non stick skillet and heat to a low medium temperature.  Place 1/4 cup of the whole wheat crepe mixture in the skillet and tilt pan until batter is evenly spread.  I used a 10 inch skillet.  Heat for 1-2 minutes and flip over when crepe is a golden brown.  Repeat to the other side.  Note, it is not necessary to add the olive oil each time, only add additional oil as needed.

To prepare, spoon the cream cheese mixture and spread in a straight line in the center of the crepe.  Top with additional fresh clean berries.

Roll up from one side.  As a healthy garnish instead of whipped cream, I added some plain greek yogurt.  Fat free sour cream is another option.  Serve immediately.

This recipe yielded 7 crepes and approximately 4 servings containing 250 calories each.  Two tablespoons of plain greek yogurt would add an additional 15 calories if used as a garnish.