This article was sponsored by R.W. Knudsen; all opinions and this spring salad recipe are my own.

Roasted strawberries are my FAVORITE thing in the world right now.

OMG how did I not know about how delicious these were?

Last weekend, I was at the shore visiting my family and I asked my mother to purchase strawberries for a recipe. Then, I woke up and thought, how delicious would it be if I roasted strawberries and pureed them in a blender for the dressing on this spring salad? What a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself. Hehe.

When I thought about how I could jazz up the pureed roasted strawberries, I instantly thought of my favorite no-sugar added juice brand R.W. Knudsen and I went through my parents pantry to search for which of their juices would be best here (Pomegranate, Blueberry or Cherry? — yes my parents have them all). I chose the R.W. Knudsen Just Tart Cherry Juice and used 1/4 cup of it in this dressing recipe along with a ripe banana.

Let me show you how to do it, folks.

Your spring and summer is SET with this dressing. Aside from wanting to drizzle it into your mouth 24/7 with a spoon, you’ll want to drizzle it on pretty much everything.

Come on in, I’ll show you how it’s done.

So, let’s talk about these roasted strawberries first. (I honestly will be making roasted strawberries weekly this summer and you’ll be seeing a lot of roasted strawberries in my NEXT cookbook because they are just too good for words). I honestly had no idea how they were going to turn out but I decided to rub the berries with melted coconut oil and toss them in the oven for 15 minutes. To my surprise, they were delicious and the entire kitchen smelled like a sweet summer berry farm. Heavenly! Even if you don’t like strawberries, just make this spring salad recipe so your home smells ridiculously amazing.

When I pureed the roasted strawberries, I needed something to make them more into a dressing consistency so I added the R.W. Knudsen Just Tart Cherry Juice and it added the perfect touch of sweetness without the sugar. As I’ve mentioned before in my previous posts where I used the R.W. Knudsen line of single fruit juices, what I love about this brand is that they don’t use any junk! No additives, no preservatives, no fake ingredients. JUST THE JUICE of the fruit. That’s it. That’s all you’ll see on the ingredient list. Not something that you see on other juices, is it? I didn’t think so. Now you know why I’m a tad bit in love with all of their juices, let’s talk about what I use them for – this way you have some fun ideas for how to use up the juice after you make this recipe.

Sound good?

One of my favorite ways to serve this R.W. Knudsen Just Tart Cherry Juice is to pour it in ice cube trays so that when I’m serving seltzer or other beverages in the spring and summer, I can pop in some of these naturally sweet ice cubes for a boost of flavor without the sugar or additives. Another fun way to use up the rest of the juice in the bottle after you make this recipe is to add it to smoothies (I like to add 1/4 cup at a time), and then I often add a splash or two when I’m making cakes, sweet breads or oatmeal for my clients in place of the water in the recipe. It brings out so much flavor to the recipe without having to add sugar or any other form of sweetness.

So, the next time you’re making a recipe that calls for water, sub it for the R.W. Knudsen Just Tart Cherry Juice and you’ve got yourself a fabulously sweet and tasty recipe without the sugar high or blood sugar spike that you’d get from adding any form of sugar or any other juice brand you’d find in the populated aisles of the food store.

Alright, enough talk. Let’s get to the food.

I’m sure your mouth is watering by now.

Let’s move on to the recipe for this spring salad, shall we?

And if you want to check out the other recipes I’ve created with the R.W. Knudsen yummy variety of juices, check ’em out here:

FRESH BASIL, PEAR & CAULIFLOWER SOUP {GLUTEN-FREE, DAIRY-FREE, SOY-FREE, SUGAR-FREE} 

CIDER POACHED PEARS {GLUTEN-FREE, DAIRY-FREE, SOY-FREE, PALEO}

ACORN SQUASH BOWL WITH ‘CREAMY’ CIDER AND SPICE DRESSING {GLUTEN-FREE, DAIRY-FREE, SOY-FREE, VEGAN, PALEO}

PERFECTLY ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH ‘CREAMY’ TOMATO TAHINI SAUCE {GLUTEN-FREE, DAIRY-FREE, SOY-FREE, VEGAN}

‘CREAMY’ MAPLE CARROT SAUCE WITH ROASTED VEGGIES {GRAIN-FREE, GLUTEN-FREE, DAIRY-FREE, SOY-FREE, VEGAN}

CARROT FENNEL SOUP {GLUTEN-FREE, DAIRY-FREE, SOY-FREE, VEGAN, PALEO}

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER AND BEET SALAD WITH ‘CREAMY’ HONEY ALMOND DRESSING {GLUTEN-FREE, DAIRY-FREE}

For more of my favorites, follow me around my kitchen and Manhattan on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

Try to buy everything organic. Here’s why I eat organic: The Benefits of Eating Organic.

Simple Spring Salad with Roasted Strawberry Dressing {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Sugar-Free, Vegan}

Serves: 4

 

Print

Prep

10 minutes

Cook

1 hour

Total

1 hour 10 minutes

 

Free of gluten, dairy, soy, sugar, eggs, corn. Vegan.

Author: Amie Valpone

Recipe type: Entree

Ingredients

• 1 pint fresh strawberries ends trimmed
• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 large white onion peeled and quartered
• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil melted and divided
• 1 medium head purple cabbage chopped
• 1/3 cup grape tomatoes halved
• 1 large Pink Lady apple large diced
• 2 Tbsp. almonds sliced
• 1 Tbsp. fresh basil leaves sliced
• 1 tsp. fresh orange zest
• 1 ripe banana
• 1/4 cup R.W. Knudsen Just Tart Cherry Juice
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Juice of 1 small orange. optional

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place the strawberries in a rimmed baking sheet.
3. Place the sweet potatoes in a separate rimmed baking sheet; poke them with a fork all over to create small holes.
4. Place the onions in a separate baking sheet (or if they fit on the sweet potato baking sheet- they can share!).
5. Rub the strawberries, sweet potatoes and onions with the melted coconut oil. Place all three baking sheets in the oven and roast the strawberries for 10 minutes, the onions for 40 minutes and the sweet potatoes for 60 minutes. Remove them all from the oven at their times or when they are tender and fully cooked and set aside to cool, then scoop out the sweet potato flesh and discard the skins.
6. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the cabbage, tomatoes, apple, almonds, basil and orange zest.
7. In a small blender, puree the roasted strawberries, banana and R.W. Knudsen Tart Cherry Juice. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Pour over the prepared salad mixture; toss to combine. Then add the onions and sweet potato flesh and drizzle with a little bit of freshly squeezed orange juice, if desired and serve immediately.

Nutrition Facts

Simple Spring Salad with Roasted Strawberry Dressing {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Sugar-Free, Vegan}

Amount Per Serving

Calories 342 Calories from Fat 108

% Daily Value*

Fat 12g18%

Saturated Fat 7g44%

Sodium 243mg11%

Potassium 1239mg35%

Carbohydrates 59g20%

Fiber 12g50%

Sugar 29g32%

Protein 7g14%

Vitamin A 11935IU239%

Vitamin C 206mg250%

Calcium 168mg17%

Iron 3mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This post was sponsored by R.W. Knudsen; all opinions are my own.