Blackberry Salad

This blackberry salad is full of fresh berries, apricots, corn, feta cheese and almonds, all drizzled with a creamy apricot dressing. A great way to showcase summer produce!

In my opinion, this is the ultimate summer salad. You’ve got sweetness from the fruit, the crunch of the nuts, the creamy cheese and that dressing is just off the charts delicious!

Raise your hand if you love the farmer’s market! While I love to shop at the farmer’s market, I don’t go as often as I’d like. Our town’s market is on a Saturday morning and we tend to not want to rush out of the house first thing on the weekend. So when I do go, I buy up everything in sight that looks good and try and come up with fun ways to showcase the produce. This blackberry salad is the product of my last trip to the farmer’s market. It’s full of great summer fruit and vegetables but let’s be real, the creamy apricot poppy seed dressing is really the star of the show here.

Most of the time I follow whatever meal plan I’ve come up with for the week but sometimes I like to cook on the fly. This time, I randomly picked up a bunch of produce without an exact plan in place.

After some consideration (and internet research!) I decided to make a salad. But not just any old salad. A blackberry-corn-apricot-beet salad with fresh herbs, feta and almonds.

How do you make blackberry salad?

So let’s talk about the salad base first. I used little gem lettuce, other great options would be spring mix, romaine or butter lettuce. I also added a handful of fresh herbs to the mix – I love putting herbs in my salad, it adds something a little unexpected. My favorite additions are mint, basil, parsley, cilantro and/or dill.

Once you’ve got your lettuce squared away it’s time for the add-ins. I went with sliced apricots, grilled corn, roasted yellow beets. blackberries, feta and sliced almonds. There is such a great interplay of flavors and textures here – the fruit adds sweetness which is counter balanced by the salty feta and the grilled corn adds a smoky note.

I made an apricot poppy seed dressing to go with this salad. Fresh ripe apricots, olive oil, vinegar and honey are whizzed together in the food processor to make a thick and creamy dressing that doesn’t actually contain any cream or mayonnaise.

This blackberry apricot salad is perfect for a picnic or potluck and you could easily add some grilled chicken to make it a hearty main course.

We’re going to be eating this salad all summer long. What is your favorite thing to buy at the farmer’s market?

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More salads you’ll love

• Black Bean and Corn Salad
• Cherry Tomato Salad
• Watermelon Feta Salad
• Cucumber Tomato Salad
• Chickpea Salad

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5 from 1 vote

Blackberry Salad

This blackberry salad is full of summer's finest fresh produce and is topped with a creamy apricot poppy seed dressing. 

Course Side

Cuisine American

Keyword blackberry salad

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Calories 221kcal

Author Dinner at the Zoo

Ingredients

• 4 cups mixed salad greens
• 1/2 cup mixed soft herbs parsley, mint, dill, cilantro, basil
• 1 cup blackberries
• 2 apricots pitted and sliced
• 2 ears of cooked corn kernels sliced off the cobs
• 3 small or 2 large roasted yellow beets roasting directions here
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

• For the dressing:
• 1 large or 2 small ripe apricots pitted
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoons honey
• kosher salt and pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Instructions

• Combine the lettuces and herbs in a large bowl. Add the blackberries, apricots, corn, beets, feta and almonds to the bowl.
• To make the salad dressing, put the apricots, olive oil, vinegar and honey in the bowl of a food processor. Puree the ingredients to a smooth dressing. Season to taste with kosher salt and pepper. Stir in poppy seeds.
• Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to coat. Serve immediately.

Notes

Make Ahead: The corn and the beets can be cooked 2 days in advance. The salad dressing can be made a day in advance, just shake it before use.

Little Helpers: The kids can help assemble the salad by putting all of the ingredients in the bowl.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 221kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 170mg | Potassium: 498mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 34.6% | Vitamin C: 39.3% | Calcium: 12.2% | Iron: 10.9%