This Fresh Berry Salad with Creamy Raspberry Dressing is bright, beautiful and so good for you.
Salads are a great way to incorporate fruits, vegetables and nuts into a daily meal, especially berries, which are high in cancer-fighting phytochemicals such as anthocyanins, ellagic acid and pterostilbene.
Recently, a friend invited me over for lunch and served a tossed green salad with a bottled raspberry dressing. Alongside, she had a bowl of fresh berries. Without thinking, I spooned some berries on top of my salad, and she remarked “what a great idea.” I thought she had meant to serve the salad and berries together, since the berries seemed to go naturally with the raspberry dressing.
When I got home, I decided to try to make a homemade raspberry dressing with fresh raspberries, as store-bought dressings often contain a lot of sugar and additives.  I found a recipe for a creamy raspberry dressing that contains no cream, but gets its creamy consistency from the dijon mustard. I halved the amount of oil, doubled the amount of raspberries, and used raspberry vinegar in my raspberry dressing recipe. The combination of fresh berries and a fresh raspberry dressing is so refreshing, and the nuts add a nice crunch.
Fresh Berry Salad with Creamy Raspberry Dressing
Printable Recipe
Creamy Raspberry Dressing:
¼ cup grapeseed oil or other flavorless oil
salt and pepper to taste
Salad:
8 cups mixed baby greens
½ cup fresh raspberries
½ cup fresh blueberries
½ cup fresh blackberries
4 tablespoon walnuts, toasted
To make the Creamy Raspberry Dressing, combine oil, honey, Dijon mustard, vinegar and lime juice in a blender and blend until emulsified. Add raspberries and blend until pureed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve, place a generous handful of mixed greens on salad plates. Top with berries and walnuts.  Drizzle with Creamy Raspberry Dressing just before serving.  Serves 4.
More Berry Salad Recipes:
Spinach Salad with Fresh Strawberry Dressing from Enlightened Cooking
Very Berry Salad from Veggie Wedgie
Sources/Articles on Cancer-Fighting Berries:
An article on phytochemicals in berries by the American Institute of Cancer Research
The Power of Berries in the New York Times
Berries: Cancer-Fighting Superfoods? on MSNBC.com
Different Berries, Similar Cancer-Fighting Effects on Science News
Anticancer Ingredients: Raspberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, Leafy Green Vegetables, Walnuts
Whole Wheat Buttermilk Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Fresh Strawberry Sauce Recipe
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Berries on my salads took some getting used to. I absolutely love them now. I'm not a fan of bottled berry dressings so this sounds like the route to go! I love the colors in your salad. The more color food has the more exciting it is to eat!
Berries are great on salads, spinach and strawberry salad is a popular combination too. This homemade berry dressing is creamy and fresh, without all the sugar and fillers that store bought often contains.
Looks very healthy and tasty too!
just made this dressing for a salad i made last night – heavenly! thank you for the recipe. i find a lot of fruity dressings too sweet, but the addition of dijon is perfect. would also be delicious with a few toasted walnuts added INTO the dressing to make it even creamier/deeper. bravo!
– rebekah
Thanks Rebekah, I'm so glad you liked this dressing. I love your idea of adding walnuts into the dressing, a great healthy addition!
The creamy raspberry dressing is perfect on oven roasted chicken breast. Its a odd combination but while i was eating the salad some got on my chicken and i really loved it. This recipe is absolutely amazing 🙂
Great idea, sounds like a light and healthy dinner!
Oh my goodness Jeanette! Thank you! I came across your blog looking for a nice healthy side salad for this Valentines day that wouldn't ruin my healthy eating…. This was delicious! For those calorie counters I figured out the calories… it is 305 calories per serving… not bad for such an amazing tasty salad! I made the salad this morning with the leftovers and added some canned salmon for the protein to make a more complete meal… it was really good! Thanks again!
Shot! I apologize I had my raspberry amount off!!! Total calories is around 285 per serving…. sorry about that… thanks again!!!!
So glad you enjoyed this salad, the dressing is delicious and I love the combination of salmon and raspberry!