I don’t have enough simple salad recipes on this blog. That’s the verdict I came to while flipping through my own salad archives looking for inspiration. Meal-in-a-bowl salad situations are plentiful, but simple side salads are lacking. Sometimes you’re tasked with making the green salad for a summer potluck and you want to make something special, you know?
Here’s my summer side salad solution. Chopped spinach, plenty of fresh berries (I used raspberries and blueberries, but chopped strawberries would be another great option), tangy goat cheese and a zippy balsamic dressing.
Combine all that with some skillet-toasted, candied maple sunflower seeds and you have a fantastic summer side. Just be sure to wait until you’re ready to eat before you toss the dressing with the rest of the salad, since the spinach wilts relatively quickly on contact.
Good! I’m glad we cleared that salad void for this season. I have some exciting projects in the works (stay tuned!) and a to-do list a mile long, but a side salad is no longer one of them. As always, please let me know how you like it and be sure to tag your Instagram photos #cookieandkate so I can hunt them down! I love to see what you’re cooking!
Berry Spinach Salad with Spicy Maple Sunflower Seeds
- Author:
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 3 side salads 1x
- Category: Salad
Summertime salad featuring fresh raspberries, blueberries, spinach and goat cheese. Toss all that in homemade balsamic vinaigrette for the perfect summer side salad! Recipe yields 3 medium side salads (as shown), so multiple as necessary. The spinach wilts quickly once it comes into contact with vinaigrette, so store them separately until you’re ready to eat.
Ingredients
Sunflower seeds
- ⅓ cup sunflower seeds (I used raw seeds, roasted are probably fine)
- 1 ½ teaspoons maple syrup
- Pinch salt (if your sunflower seeds are unsalted)
- Dash cayenne, optional (if you like spice)
Salad
- 5 ounces baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 ½ cups total raspberries, blueberries and/or chopped strawberries
- ⅓ cup (about 2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
Balsamic vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- To prepare the sunflower seeds, warm a small non-stick skillet over medium heat and add the sunflower seeds. Let the sunflower seeds warm up a bit, then pour in the maple syrup, a pinch of salt and a tiny dash of cayenne pepper, if desired. Toast the seeds while stirring constantly until most of the maple syrup has evaporated and the sunflower seeds are turning lightly golden on the edges, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the seeds to a plate to cool.
- In a serving bowl, combine the spinach, berries, crumbled goat cheese and sunflower seeds. In a small measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients until emulsified.
- Just before serving, drizzle in enough vinaigrette to lightly coat the leaves (you might have leftover dressing) and gently toss (careful with those delicate raspberries!). Serve immediately.
Notes
Why buy organic? Buy organic berries and spinach if you can, to avoid exposure to pesticide residue.
Make it vegan: Omit the goat cheese.
▸ Nutrition Information
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Amy @ Parsley In My Teeth
I love simple salads! I tend to live on them in the summer. This looks super delish!
Dorcas@feelgoodfoodblog
You’ve definitely upped the salad game with those spicy, maple sunflower seeds. Brilliant
Kate
Thanks!!!
Ashley @ Fit Mitten Kitchen
I’ve been having a salad very similar to this all of last week! Love the addition of those spicy sunflower seeds though! YUM.
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
Those seeds are totally calling my name! Love this salad!
Eileen
Hooray for salad! Berries and dark greens are one of those perfect combinations. I’m also tempted to make up a double batch of those sunflower seeds just for snacking… :)
Cassie Tran
I love this recipe! Spinach and berries taste amazing together–I would also make a smoothie, this salad and a spinach omelet with berries on the side!
Marion
Just made your salad. Didn’t have any spinach so I used arugula, kale and romaine. Also added pomegranite seeds and some red grapes with
the blueberries… It was delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Kate
Thank you, Marion! So glad it turned out well for you!
Amy @ Thoroughly Nourished Life
Kate! This looks so refreshing and the perfect simple side salad to throw together to bring along to a family gathering, or to eat for lunch after too many treats on the weekend :)
Love the berries as the star player!
Joanne
I am all about throwing fruits into salads lately and then inevitably eating so much of them, that I’m forced to call them dinner. It’s good stuff. This looks awesome!
Anna
yumm love the combination :D
Sarah | Well and Full
I hear you with the salad thing! I feel like I make myself these salads I *think* are simple, but when I actually write them down for the blog I’m like whoa… there are way too many ingredients in here haha. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing! But you’re right, sometimes simple salads are the best :)
Kate
Right?! I feel like side salads are such an overlooked portion of the meal, too. Trying to help out with this one. :)
My Dish is Bomb
I received a strawberry dressing as a gift recently and have been looking for a nice spinach salad recipe to go with it that’s not the boiled egg variety. I love this recipe and I love the extra crunch of the seeds!
Kate
Perfect!
Alexa @ Sweet Little Kitchen
This does look like the perfect seasonal side salad! I have a ton of raw sunflower seeds on hand and I’ve been trying to use them up in salads, but they aren’t my favorite thing in the world. I think I’ll enjoy them more if I jazz them up with some maple syrup and cayenne pepper :)
Kate
Thanks, Alexa! I think you’ll find that sunflower seeds with a little bit of maple and spice are totally addictive!
Vicki
I tried this last night and it’s fantastic!! My 2 boys, aged 8 and 11 loved it as well and that isn’t always easy as they can be fussy eaters. I made it just as the recipe stated and it was perfect. I will be making it again very soon. Thank you!!
Kate
Thank you, Vicki! Delighted it hear it! It took me a while to learn to like goat cheese, so I’m impressed your boys are already enjoying it! Hooray!
Felicia@Ingredient1
We can’t get enough of sunflower seeds. They’re a great salad topper and a nutritious and filling snack. You should check out Super Seedz brand and their awesome flavors (especially the Maple + Sea Salt) — we have their products in our app!
Petra
Hi Kate,
thanks for the inspiration. I have never tasted baby spinach as a salad, I have always cooked it. So this was a grand premiere for me. I used blueberries… And since I am currently heavily into sprouts I mixed them in as well, also because I was to lazy to make the sunflower seeds. The dressing is great, I never used maple sirup – makes a nice note and suits the balsamico very well.
Enjoying this delicious summer salad niw on the balcony
Kate
Thank you, Petra! Glad it turned out well for you!
Cindy
I made this salad for guests the first day you posted it. Added strawberries, blueberries and raspberries since I had them all on hand.
The salad was AMAZING! We all agreed that it was the best salad any of us had ever had! The maple glazed sunflower seeds are the crowning touch!
Great job, Kate.
Kate
That’s quite a compliment, Cindy! Thank you very much! :)
CLS
Love berries in a salad, and we think that adding seeds makes a perfect combo! Thanks, what a great recipe!
Vicki Cohen
I’ve used the sunflower seed portion of this recipe several times in other salads. really yummy.
Hannah
So delicious! I love the toasted sunflower seeds!
★★★★★
Susan
This is amazingly delicious, and so quick to make. Love the heat of the cayenne on the sunflower seeds. I use so many of your recipes and am enjoying the new cookbook with the beautiful photos. Congratulations!
Kate
Awesome! Thanks, Susan! I love the cayenne on the sunflower seeds, too–just a little pop of heat to balance out the sweet.
Kaitlin
I had an abundance of blueberries and decided to try them out in this recipe; boy, am I glad! This is delicious! I ate a big bowl of it for lunch and it was great.
★★★★★
Kate
Great! I’m loving all the blueberries right now.
leslie
I just made this salad to eat with the mediterranean stuffed tomatoes with quinoa, and it was delicious! Such a good late summer light and refreshing meal. Also, the spicy maple sunflower seeds are a game-changer! I made a bigger batch and am storing them to add an extra kick to any salad!
★★★★★
Kate
YES I love those sunflower seeds, too! I can eat them by the handful.
ingrid
Hello.
Do you have the nutritional information for the Berry Spinach Salad with Spicy Maple seeds?
Kate
Hi, Ingrid! I’m currently working through all my recipes and manually adding the nutritional information to them. It can take a while, especially with the amount of recipes I have! In the meantime, here’s a nutrition calculator that might come in handy.
Sarah
Delicious! Thank you.
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Sarah!
Kris
Another great salad, thanks Kate! I didn’t have the sunflower seeds, so substituted chopped (from whole) almonds. And, I didn’t have goat cheese, so substituted a little feta and a little queso fresco cheeses. Served it with pork tenderloin, and it was a perfect summer meal!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing how you made it work for you, Kris! I’m glad you loved it.
Anita from Vancouver British Columbia
In this heat, I have been living on your favourite green salad, strawberry spinach salad, and I hoped you had another to use with summer blueberries….and you did! Love it.
I was at Costco, hoping they had raw sunflower seeds. Found a salad topper (roasted sunflower seeds, roasted pepitas and cranberries) and used that instead. But one day I will get around to toasting raw sunflower seeds on my own and make as written :-)
★★★★★