Guest Blogger Today! Mindy Whipple from ‘a dandelion diary’

I am thrilled that Mindy Whipple is guesting today with a beautiful salad she has created from her garden. I love reading Mindy’s blog for many reasons – she has an exceptional skill in writing, her posts are very inspirational and cause you to give thanks for all the good things in life AND she has a lovely garden that has produced tasty fruits and vegetables for our dish today!

Thank you, Mindy. I hope I can coax you into guesting through the summer. No doubt readers will be asking for more! Here’s Mindy:

I am a big proponent of using foods that are in season and readily available – whether fresh from the garden, your local farmer’s market or your grocers produce aisle. I also try to take stock of what items I have on hand in my pantry and freezer when deciding what to cook. All that, combined with some recent sunshine, inspired today’s recipe.

I am a Pacific Northwest gal and this salad stars native, fresh caught, salmon, raspberries from our raspberry patch and local dill. I baked the salmon for this dish and used warm. You could easily bake early in the day and refrigerate to use cold in the dish or, on especially warm days, grill your salmon instead.

Raspberry Salmon Salad

Ingredients

1 pound salmon fillet

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

Juice from ½ lemon or to taste

3-5 sprigs of fresh dill (If not available you can substitute a sprinkling of dried)

8 cups prepared lettuce (I used a combination of green leaf and romaine but use your favorite)

2 medium carrots, thinly stripped with peeler or thinly sliced

1 medium sized cucumber, sliced

1 sweet red pepper, sliced into strips

½ red onion, sliced into thin strips

1/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (Roast at 350 degrees for approximately 5-10 minutes)

2 peaches, peeled and sliced

1 cup fresh raspberries

Pre-prepared low fat raspberry vinaigrette (or make your own!)

Directions

· Bake the salmon on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray or lightly oiled. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Squeeze lemon juice over the fillet. Place the sprigs of dill on top. Bake at 425 degrees until salmon flakes easily with a fork. Chunk salmon apart with a fork to separate into medium sized pieces.

· Place lettuce, carrots, cucumber, pepper and onions in a large bowl and toss. Dish this mixture onto four plates. Top each serving with ¼ of the salmon and a sprinkling of toasted walnuts. Divide the peaches and berries and place beside each serving on the plate or, if you prefer, on top of the salad mix. Serve with low fat raspberry vinaigrette.

This recipe is perfect for a warm, summer lunch or dinner and can be adapted to include other veggies such as purple cabbage and radishes and other berries such as blueberries or strawberries. You could also use roasted sunflower seeds or hazelnuts in place of the walnuts. Use what is in season, what is fresh and what you love.

Thank you so much Robyn for your wonderful recipes and allowing me to share one of mine! I hope your summer is filled with sunshine and good food.