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There’s no rushing summer. Not in my neck of the woods anyway. No matter how much you want to be doing summer things…planting the vegetable garden, eating on the deck, wearing flip flops. I can’t jump the gun without feeling a bit like a fake. Maybe it’s a grown up thing…

My kids hardly pause for spring. They jump into summer as soon as the snow’s gone, running around barefoot and in shorts when I’m still wearing socks to bed.

I decided it’s time I tried to learn more from my kids. With that mindset I discovered that you can rush the summer feeling, even if you can’t hurry summer. So what if local, field-ripened strawberries won’t be around until late June. Why wait? It’ll be even better with juicy local berries and tender spinach from the farmers market. But in the meantime, eating this salad gave me the delicious hint of summer I was craving.

Strawberry spinach salad with molasses vinaigrette:

• Enough baby spinach to feed your crew
• 2-3 Tbsp. toasted pine nuts
• 1 pint of strawberries, washed & sliced

Molasses vinaigrette:

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 4 Tbsp. vinegar (cider, sherry or red wine)
• 2 Tbsp. Crosby’s Fancy Molasses
• 4 tsp. Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp. oregano
• Sea salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Whisk together vinegar and Dijon until smooth.
2. Add molasses and combine well.
3. Add oil in a thin stream, whisking well to combine.
4. Add remaining ingredients & mix well.  

Nutritional info: Per Tbsp. of dressing Calories: 45, Fat: 4.2 g, Saturated Fat: .6 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 18 mg, Carbs: 2 g, 5ugar: 1.4 g

One more thing…

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Make this recipe delicious with Crosby's Molasses.