Strawberry Salad with Greens, Feta Cheese and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Here's the recipe suggested for Dole Spring Mix lettuce with my own improvements (seriously salt on this salad?).

Ingredients
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed
1 pkg. DOLE® Spring Mix lettuce
2 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup crumbled goat or feta cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

Directions

• Combine vinegar, olive oil, basil in small bowl with a dash of pepper.


• Gently combine the lettuce and strawberries in large bowl.


• Add vinaigrette and toss gently. Serve and sprinkle each salad with cheese and pine nuts.

Dole's Salad Guide: New entry in the bagged salad line proves interesting

Who hasn't seen the add with the gent suggesting what you can eat with a particular bagged salad.

At first the new bagged salads showed promise indicating how mild or bold the lettuce is or how tender and crunchy the lettuce is. I didn't know you could characterize lettuce that way; and unfortunately, I don't know what to do with that information.

A little more reading on the package gives a good suggestion or two. For Spring Mix, it pairs well with balsamic vinaigrette, crumbled goat cheese, julienne sliced sun-dried tomatoes and Mediterranean herbs (what are Mediterranean herbs?)

Digging deeper, the Dole web site gives several recipes per bagged lettuce type. The recipes are a little hard to find. You have to know to search for 'packaged lettuce.' Anyway, here's the home page for bagged salads. The recipes really let you add some sophistication to your at-home-eating experience. I've tweaked a strawberry lettuce combo salad. See what you think.

Before I forget, the bagged salads all have new easy open packages. Thank goodness. How many times have you cut open bagged salad only to spill some leaves.