It’s been really fun to explore what it’s like shopping at ALDI and sharing the experience with you. I have loved reading your feedback, comments and questions on my first two posts. If you’re catching up you can read about my first shopping trip here and everything I purchased with a cost breakdown here.

One of the things about shopping at ALDI that many of you were interested in was the availability of fresh produce/meats/cheeses and organic/non-processed/healthy items. In today’s post I wanted to share a recipe with you that uses only ingredients I purchased from ALDI (minus the dressing because my pantry was already stocked to make it).

I  eat a salad for lunch most days so when I was shopping at ALDI I made sure to pick up salad supplies. I was pleased to find that they had some really great toppings including cheap avocados, honey goat cheese, dried fruit, pecans and Florida strawberries. I decided to pair all of this with the frozen wild caught salmon that I purchased to make a great salad combo.

Isn’t this salad beautiful!? I defrosted the salmon fillet by soaking it in water for about 20 minutes and then seasoned it and broiled it while I was prepping the salad. It includes some of my favorite salad toppings ever…toasted pecans, strawberries, goat cheese, dried cranberries and strawberries.

It made for a special and delicious lunch without breaking the bank. You would usually consider some of these items to be more expensive for an every day lunch salad but the prices at ALDI were so reasonable that it was doable. I topped the salad off with a homemade honey dijon balsamic that I whipped up using ingredients I already had in my pantry.

Here’s the recipe!

Salmon, Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad

Ingredients: 

FOR THE SALAD:
1 salmon filet, defrosted if frozen
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
Salt, to taste
Mixed greens
1 quarter of an avocado, diced
3 strawberries, sliced
2 tablespoons chopped pecan halves, toasted
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 ounce honey goat cheese

FOR THE DRESSING
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat broiler on high. Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place salmon skin side down on baking sheet and rub with olive oil. Sprinkle with lemon pepper and salt and place under broiler. Cook for about 6-9 minutes or until salmon is golden on top and cooked to your liking. I like mine medium-ish and still a little pink.

While salmon is cooking prepare salad and dressing. For the dressing, whisk together mustard, honey and balsamic and then slowly incorporate the olive oil as you continue to whisk the mixture.

To serve, place the salmon over the salad and drizzle with dressing.

Yield: 1 salad

This post is sponsored by ALDI. I developed the recipe.