Strawberry Plant Based Summer Salad

I'm here to admit I've had my fair share of salads and not always excited for salads.  I went though years of dieting and restricting and I think I had a bit too many salads - bland at that - and really just dis-assimilated my taste buds!  However, I now have a new appreciation for them, now that I know what I'm doing and how to structure them!  I also like to add lots of flavor, crunch and fats which makes it that much tastier!

Throughout the summer I want to publish at least 1 summer salad a week that's exciting and new to tempt your taste buds and make it that much more exciting to eat your greens!  Yes, I said exciting to eat your greens!

Ok so here's my first thought.  I have strawberries in the fridge but I don't use dressing because they all have too much sugar and frankly only the bad ones taste good!  So, I've started creating my own new spins on dressing that include healthy fats and a little kick to jazz up those plain Jane salads!

For the dressing I used the following:

• 4-5 fresh strawberries
• 1/2 fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/2 cup coconut water - or if you want to use water here that's fine too!  And feel free to use more!  It was pretty thick so adding more would thin it out.

Throw them all into the blender and just blend until smooth!  This makes enough for about 2-3 servings depending on how much you want to use.

For the salad I used the following:

• 1 cup romaine lettuce
• 1/2 cup spinach
• 1 strawberry
• 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 avocado
• Handful of cucumber slices
• 1 cup Quorn Vegan Chicken Tenders (non soy - made from potato protein & pea fiber)

Chop you lettuce and spinach and add to your bowl.  Top with cucumber strawberries, pumpkin seeds, avocado and chicken tenders!  Add your dressing and enjoy!