Spicy Fig, Strawberry and Feta Salad

The summer has ended Down Under and I am not just ready to let go of the season yet. Looks like the summer produce is not leaving either.

My local fresh foods market had a beautiful stock of figs and strawberries. It was hard to give beautiful produce like that a miss.

Although I’ve enjoyed fresh figs in smoothies and tarts but never in salads. The idea came from a day of city hopping; a restaurant menu had poached fig and feta salad, the very idea was instantly appealing.

Instead of poaching, I kept the salad simple, fresh and with a hint of heat.

The salad is full of flavours and textures. Your palate will be treated to tart, sweet, salty and spicy flavours – a colourful celebration of all things fresh.

Serves: 3 to 4

Ingredients

 For the salad:

  • Figs – 6
  • Strawberry – 1 punnet
  • Feta (full fat or reduced fat) – 50 gms
  • Salad greens – 1 large bowl
  • Chillies – As per you liking
  • Salt and pepper – To season

For the salad:

  • Balsamic vinegar – 4 tblspns
  • Olive oil – 4 tblspns
  • Chilli flakes (optional) – 1 tspn

Directions

  1. Clean and dry the figs and strawberries.
  2. Remove stem and/or leaves from the strawberries. Set the fruits aside.
  3. Slice the figs or halve them.
  4. Thinly slice the chillies. I used red coloured ones to go with the theme of the chosen fruits.
  5. In a small bowl, add all the ingredients under “For the dressing”.
  6. Whisk the ingredients well and keep aside.
  7. To assemble the salad, place the salad greens in a large bowl.
  8. Arrange the sliced/halved figs, feta and strawberries.
  9. Top it with the sliced chillies.
  10. Season with salt and pepper.
  11. Drizzle the prepared dressing at the time of serving the salad.
  12. You can serve the salad chilled or in room temperature.

Tips:

  1. Add other berries to give it more variety.
  2. I did not poach or stew the figs. You could do so if you like the figs that way.
  3. I used firm feta. You crumbly or medium feta if you prefer.
  4. Goat’s feta or goat’s curd is a good alternative to feta for a more stronger taste.
  5. Use lemon juice in place of balsamic vinegar for the dressing.
  6. Replace salad greens with baby spinach.
  7. Use any variety of chilli to suit your tolerance. I used the long, mild variant as I wanted to keep the salad fresh, light and mildly spicy.

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