The Best Strawberry Spinach Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What to do with strawberry spinach? ›

The leaves have a mild, earthy, and subtly bitter, spinach-like flavor and can be consumed in early or mature stages. When young, the leaves are typically incorporated into fresh preparations, including salads, sandwiches, and as a bed of greens. The young leaves can also be mixed into stir-fries.

A relative of spinach, this unique plant produces delicious greens which can be eaten like spinch, and attractive red berries with minimal flavour. Growing up to 18″ tall, the plants are compact addition to the garden.

A unique annual in the Amaranth family with distinctive, fleshy, red, aggregate fruits growing along the stems between their deeply serrated triangular leaves. The fruits and leaves are edible; the leaves have a flavor similar to spinach and the fruits are colorful with a mild, sweet flavor.

A botanical synonym is Blitum capitatum. Its many common names include Blite Goosefoot, Strawberry Spinach, Strawberry Goosefoot, Beetroot, Indian Paint and Indian Ink (due to its purported use as a dye by indigenous peoples).

Companion Plants for Strawberry Spinach

Lettuce and strawberry spinach have similar growing requirements and won't compete with each other for light and nutrients. Many common garden pests are naturally repulsed by the strong scent of leeks and other alliums.

How do you keep fruit salad from getting soggy? Overnight fruit salad is meant to be a little softer and refrigerating overnight helps create that texture. For other fresh fruit salads, reserving any dressings and keeping the fruits separate until ready to serve will ensure your salad isn't soggy.

It's best to store fruit salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator. These containers create the perfect level of moisture and humidity for cut fruit, helping the pieces stay fresher for longer. We also love using these reusable silicone bags to create individual portions that are easy to grab and go for lunch.

Consume within a few days: Cut strawberries are best consumed within 2-3 days to ensure freshness and quality. As time passes, they may become mushy, lose flavor, or develop mold.

Strawberry Spinach - Botany

The juice from the flowers was also used as a red dye by natives. The fruits contain small, black, lens-shaped seeds that are 0.7-1.2 mm long. The greens are edible raw or as a potherb, but should be eaten in moderation.

Strawberry spinach should be ready to harvest in approximately 50 days. Leaves are ready to harvest when they are large enough to eat, and can be harvested as needed. Harvest leaves by pinching off the outer leaves, leaving some on the plant for future growth.

What should spinach look like when you harvest it? ›

A: When the spinach plants are shaped like a rosette and have at least 6 leaves, you can begin harvesting. However, it's best to wait until the plants mature a little longer, allowing the leaves to get 3 to 6 inches long.

Some chemicals in the plant (saponins in the seed, and oxalates, nitrates and sulfates in the leaves) are mildly toxic if eaten often or in large quantities, but they can be easily removed by cooking. The greens can also be dried or blanched and frozen and the bunches with tiny green flowers are also edible.

The leaves and young shoots may be eaten raw or cooked as a leaf vegetable. The flower buds and flowers can also be eaten cooked. Each plant produces tens of thousands of black seeds.

Many people find the sweet berries taste rather like strawberries too, but I must admit that, to me, they taste more like beets (beetroots), but without the earthy aftertaste.

My favorite way to use strawberry tops is infusing liquids, like water, vinegar, kombucha, and booze. Infuse water: Love that fancy, fruit-infused water at the spa? This is the easiest way to make it at home. Add the strawberry tops to a glass jar, cover with water, and let it sit for about an hour before sipping.

How to Harvest Strawberry spinach. Strawberry spinach should be ready to harvest in approximately 50 days. Leaves are ready to harvest when they are large enough to eat, and can be harvested as needed. Harvest leaves by pinching off the outer leaves, leaving some on the plant for future growth.

tl;dr. Most people throw away the leaves when they eat strawberries, but strawberry leaves aren't bad for you — they actually have a bunch of potential health benefits including improving heart health, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, boosting the immune system, and reducing blood sugar levels.