Blueberry Picking

This was not a Taste Tempters cooking club event but thought I'd share since I love blueberries and love picking them every July!



Blueberry Spinach Salad

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp sugar (can add more if you like it sweeter)
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 (10 oz) pack fresh spinach
• 1 (4 oz) pack feta cheese or blue cheese, crumbled
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup almonds, toasted
• 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• 6 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled

Directions:

• In a jar with tight-fitting lid, mix first 5 ingriedents and shake well. In a large salad bowl, toss the spinach, cheese, blueberries, almonds, eggs and bacon. Add dressing, gently toss; serve immediately.

Note: In this photo I served the spinach salad with a baked potato, bacon & feta cheese (rather than putting the cheese and bacon on the salad I put it on the potato). This recipe was adapted from this Blueberry Spinach Salad recipe on Allrecipes.com.

Fresh Fruit & Dips

Mexican Fruit Dip:

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 jar (7 oz size) marshmallow cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons rum -- optional
• Fruit such as pineapple -- strawberries, banana

Directions: In small bowl of a mixer, beat the cream cheese until it's soft and smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat until well blended. Add the sour cream, marshmallow cream, vanilla extract, almond extract, cinnamon and rum. Blend just until well combined. Place the mixture in serving bowl, cover and chill several hours before serving with fruit.

Easy Chocolate Fruit Dip: Ingredients:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup chocolate syrup
• 1 jar marshmallow cream (7 0unces)

Directions: In a small bowl, mix cream cheese and chocolate syrup with a mixer until well blended. Then fold in the marshmallow cream. Place the mixture in a serving bowl, chill several hours before serving with fruit.