Sweet Blueberry Salad with Blueberry Ranch

Leah Klein

Easy

Difficulty

My last salad took us all the way to Israel, but this summer salad with a twist takes us to the American Midwest and the birthplace of ranch salad dressing. Nebraska is where America’s favorite dressing made its début. Meanwhile in the Northeast, this time of year, Maine is overflowing with blueberries. This salad features blueberries as a sweet burst in the salad mix itself and a purée of blueberries in the ranch dressing.

Ingredients for 5 servings

Blueberry Ranch Dressing

  • 1/4 cup of mayo
  • 1/4 cup of sour cream
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1/4 cup of blueberries (buy a pint because you’ll use more in the salad)
  • 2 tsp. of dried dill
  • 10 chives minced
  • 1/4 cup of minced parsley, about 1/2 a bunch of flat leaf parsley
  • Up to 1/4 cup of milk
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Summer Blueberry Salad

  • 5 oz. of greens (1/2 arugula and 1/2 baby spinach or baby kale or other greens)
  • 1 1/4 cups of walnuts, toasted
  • 1/4 of a red onion thinly sliced
  • 1/2 pint of blueberries

Directions

1. Wash your pint of blueberries. In a small pot add 1/4 cup of blueberries. Put the lid on the pot and cook on low until the juices begin to bubble a little. Squash the blueberries with a fork as they are cooking. Let the blueberries cook for 5-10 minutes over low heat. Put the purée into a small bowl and let it cool. Chill in the refrigerator while you continue preparing the salad.

2. Wash the greens and add them to a serving bowl.

3. In a dry pan over medium heat, toast 1 1/4 cups of walnuts. Once the walnuts become fragrant you will need to watch them closely so they do not burn. Shake the pan to move and turn the walnuts a little. Set the nuts aside to cool.

4. Peel and thinly slice 1/4 of the red onion.

5. Add about 1/2 pint of the fresh blueberries to the greens.

6. Once the blueberry purée has cooled, you can continue making the blueberry ranch dressing.

7. Wash and dry 10 chives and about 1/2 a bunch of parsley. Mince the chives and parsley. You should have about 1/4 cup of minced parsley.

8. In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup of mayonnaise and 1/4 cup of sour cream. Add in 1 clove of minced garlic. Season with salt and pepper: 1/2 tsp of each or to taste. Mix together until smooth and uniform.

9. Add in the chives, the dried dill and minced parsley. Then, stir in the chilled puréed blueberries.

10. Stir in up to 1/4 cup of milk until you have the desired consistency. One quarter cup will make a fairly thin ranch dressing. If you like a thicker dressing, add less.

11. In the serving bowl, add 1/2 pint of the fresh blueberries, the sliced red onion and the cooled toasted walnuts. Drizzle with the blueberry ranch salad dressing and serve.

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Leah Klein

Leah is a freelance writer and blogger at Leah’s Life: Pearls & Oysters. She writes about food, lifestyle, travel and style. Her life includes the tedium of day to day, the big thoughts, and little smiles that come out of such a life. It includes, the places she goes with her family and the journeys they have. It includes dancing, singing, laughing, crying, eating, drinking, traveling far and exploring close to home.