Spring Salads & Anticipated April Reads

I hope to make these salads and read these books (someday).

My favorite birthday meal is grilled salmon with grilled asparagus, roasted potatoes, and strawberry salad. It’s a decidedly warm weather meal for a March birthday, so some years (like this chilly one) I settle for takeout or even a warm soup. But I think about that salad until grilling season commences—spring greens, fresh sliced strawberries, a few scallions, toasted and sugared almond slivers, and poppyseed vinaigrette. Yum.

It might be a few weeks before we crave raw veggies and pull out the grill, and I’m fairly content to live on soup and sandwiches awhile longer (even more so thanks to

Melissa Lindquist

’s new round-up of spring soups in

Deep North Eats

). However, a meal planner is gonna meal plan, and I can’t help but look forward to all things spring produce.

Spring Salads

If my strawberry birthday salad sounded good to you, here are a few similar recipes:

• Almond Strawberry Salad (Taste of Home)

• 20-Minute Strawberry Salad with Balsamic Dressing (Two Spoons)

• Baby Lettuces with Strawberries, Feta, and Almonds (Food & Wine)

• Note: I also like Trader Joe’s Sweet & Spicy Pecans as a strawberry salad topping.

The Department of Salad: Official Bulletin

by Emily Nunn features stunning salad recipes and is worth a browse. I’m saving these Salads That Can Stand Up to Pizza for sourdough pizza and salad nights this spring and summer.

Here are a few more recipes I’ve collected, to be paired with grilled chicken, fish, burgers, or our favorite Kirkland chicken nuggets:

• Oma’s Green Mountain Salad (Food & Wine)

• Grilled Asparagus Salad (Food & Wine)

• Cucumber Salad with Crispy Chickpeas (The Defined Dish)

• Little Gem Salad with Tarragon Green Goddess (The Defined Dish)

• Lemony Spring Pasta Salad with Vegetables & Herbs (The First Mess)

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If you have a spring salad recommendation, please leave it in the comments for all of us!

Anticipated April Book Releases

I have a few of these titles in Libro.fm or NetGalley, so stay tuned for reviews in the next few monthly reading reports.

4/2 The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez

4/2 The Lady He Lost by Faye Delacour

4/2 Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

4/2 We Loved It All: A Memory of Life by Lydia Millet

4/2 The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza

4/9 The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

4/9 The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton

4/23 Funny Story by Emily Henry

4/23 Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee

4/23 A Game of Lies by Claire Mackintosh

4/30 The Mother ACT by Heidi Reimer

A printable list of my anticipated April reads, including book covers, titles, and genres, is available for paid subscribers below.