Strawberry-Feta Pepper Salad

Oh, October!

Last week I walked into the grocery store and I found myself suddenly in squash-and-legume land. I was astounded. Where was the…color? No berries! No melons! No peaches! Granted, there were apples, and plenty of them, but today is not Apple Appreciation Day. Believe me, you’ll know when that day comes. It will arrive when I transition from feeling remorseful about the lack of “real fruit” to feeling rightfully appreciative of apple’s representation of the fruit kingdom in the dead of winter.

But today is not that day, unfortunately. No, for today, I am mourning the loss of summer’s bounty. The juicy, colorful fruits of the warm season.

But I’ll be honest. Thanks to good old California, we always have strawberries. Except for last week– I don’t know what happened there. But the point of the matter is that strawberries–however pricey they may be over here in the middle of the country–are always available! The perpetual fruit. Halleyluyah!

In celebration of strawberries, the out-of-season (except for you right-coasters) wonders that they are, I’ve prepared a special salad.

Strawberry-Feta Pepper Salad

Ingredients:

-lettuce

-fresh strawberries

-crumbled feta cheese (goat cheese also works)

-fresh-ground black pepper

-balsamic vinegar

Steps:

1. Marinate berries (This step is optional, if you’re short on time, or not picky about the taste. It’s the flavor combination that matters, but sometimes letting the strawberries absorb the vinegar gives it that extra little kick.)

Cut strawberries into halves and quarters–the more surface area you give the slices, the more bitter the fruit (and thusly the salad) will become. Drizzle or soak (depending on preference) in balsamic vinegar, and let stand for about 30 minutes.

2. Assemble the salad

Toss a the marinated berries in with a light lettuce (Spinach is the dark exception–it also works well!), then sprinkle with crumbled feta. Top it all off with a few cranks of a pepper grinder–using high quality peppercorns makes all the difference on this one, because you can really taste the spice.

There’s something wonderful about the simplicity of this dish; the bitterness of the balsamic vinegar goes so well with the sweet strawberries, and the pepper and feta gives it a perfect bite!

Enjoy!