Strawberries, Figs, and Balsamic

Spring is still hanging on in Fort Worth, but it's never too early to enjoy some strawberries.  As I've already mentioned here, I have a slight crush on this summer fruit.  While in Arizona last month S and I stumbled on an olive mill.  While it may sound completely crazy to grow olives in Arizona, it is apparently the perfect climate.  Lucky us.  They have a restaurant and store set up with an olive tasting bar.  We tried the lot of them.  As fantastic as their oil was what really got us was their imported balsamic vinegar.  It was enough to convince us to buy a bottle.  They had plain, strawberry, and fig.  For fear of being too cliche I chose the fig.  We haven't been disappointed.

The fabulous thing we've discovered, though, is that fig and strawberry are fabulous compliments to each other.  For some recipe some time I bought a bag of dried figs and haven't had a need for them since.  In my constant effort to empty my pantry I pondered what I could do with them and voila, this salad was born.

This isn't really a recipe, but here's how it goes:

Place some spinach in a bowl,
Slice some strawberries,
Chop some figs,
Toast some almonds,
Top the spinach,
Drizzle on some fig balsamic or your favorite balsamic vinaigrette
Enjoy!