When grocery shopping for a salad to accompany a spicy pasta dish I made last week (recipe for that soon to come!), the blackberries were calling my name. So I decided to the “sweet” salad route, and make a fruity spinach salad with some herbed chevre, toasted walnuts, baby spinach, and of course, blackberries. :)

Since multiple cartons of blackberries somehow made it into my cart, I decided to also puree some of them and make a homemade blackberry-balsamic vinaigrette to drizzle on top. Quite possibly my best idea of the week — it was delicious!

Feel free to sub in other favorite cheeses, berries, or nuts, but I thought this flavor combination was a definite winner. Will be making it again soon!

Ali’s Tip:

To make the strained blackberry juice, just puree blackberries in a food processor or mash with a spoon. Then strain through a fine-mesh sieve.

If you’d like, save the blackberry pulp and pop it in a smoothie!