Strawberry Kiwi Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing is full of fresh flavors and crunch with candied nuts, red onions, fresh strawberries and kiwi and baby spinach topped with a homemade healthier poppy seed dressing!

Sometimes, it can be hard to get in the mood for a salad but man, when I find a good salad recipe, I can't stop making it. I have always been a fan of strawberry spinach salads but until now, never made my own poppy seed dressing. It is actually quite easy and so delicious. In celebration of Australia Day on January 26, I created this recipe using kiwi which is popular in Australia. This strawberry kiwi spinach salad can be topped with your choice of protein or eaten as a side dish like it is here.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

Growing up, my mom would have a night each week called Ethnic Night where my siblings and I would each choose a different country on the map and my mom would make a meal from that country and have a little lesson about the history of that country or something else fun about it. We absolutely loved it and it was a great way to try different kinds of foods. When I heard that Australia Day was coming up, I knew that it would be a fun opportunity for my family to have an Australian-inspired meal to celebrate and to learn a little more about the country.

I did a bunch of research of foods that Australians eat and it looks like they have tons of fresh produce available. A few things that I saw a lot of in terms of produce was sweet potatoes and kiwi. I got inspired to make a strawberry kiwi spinach salad and to make my own homemade poppy seed dressing. Maybe it is not 100% authentic but it is Australian-inspired for sure! I could not find any truly authentic Australian salad recipes so I decided to create my own.