I’ve always thought recipes for salads were pretty ridiculous.

I grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, so I have always understood salad to be a small pile of shredded iceberg lettuce topped with shredded cheddar, ham cubes and a nice drizzle of ranch dressing.

Feeling fancy? Add a few pickled okra or swap the ranch for Italian; Europe is way more exotic than Wyoming.

But then I got pregnant with my first child and discovered that I had gestational diabetes. Moreover, I developed it earlier than normal, in the second trimester. And so I followed a strict diabetic diet for several months, months made more excruciating by my increasing appetite.

I discovered during that time that restaurants can be tough places to be diabetic. Salads became my go-to, giving me a chance to fill up on a “free” veggie so that I could still have a serving of carbohydrates with my meal.

And that’s how I found out about the lovely Gorgonzola salad at the now-closed Veranda restaurant in Starkville.

Composed of a bed of spinach, a sprinkle of candied pecans, several sliced strawberries and a few tablespoons of Gorgonzola cheese tossed together with a simple sweet and sour vinaigrette, that salad was heaven. I loved it so much that I began adding grilled, sliced chicken breast and ordering it as my meal.

It was deceptively simple, one of those dishes where the whole is somehow much more impressive than the sum of its parts. When the Veranda closed, I figured I’d never have that salad again.

But then, a few years ago, I picked up Joanna Gaines’s first cookbook, “Magnolia Table.”

In that cookbook (which is divine, by the way, and well worth the purchase price), Gaines had a recipe for both candied nuts and a vinaigrette that I thought might allow me to recreate the salad I so fondly remembered from the Veranda.

Sure enough, her version of the dressing was good enough to drink.

The candied pecans were equally delicious, but they made me feel guilty. See, we do not usually have nuts of any kind in our home because of Julia’s allergies.

Obviously, I kept the nuts in a separate container. But still, I don’t like the idea of one family member not being able to participate fully in a meal, no matter how small the omission is. I also hated knowing that one of us could accidentally spread a piece of a pecan – or even some of its oils – to her food and make her sick.

There had to be a better way.

And that’s when I remembered that my sister sometimes makes a salad with a sweet vinaigrette, mandarin oranges and crushed, toasted bits of ramen.

Yes, THAT ramen, the noodles you probably ate once a week when you were in college. The stuff that costs around $3 for a 12-pack.

So I decided to try making candied ramen bits. Yes, I know I sound like a lunatic.

But also? It worked. And it was delicious. And did I mention it was cheap? It was very, very cheap.

So if you’re looking for a new way to enjoy the delicious strawberries that are beginning to flood the produce section of local grocery stores, try this salad recipe. I realize it looks like a lot of work, but the labor-intensive portions keep well for several days or even weeks, so you can make several recipes at once and have this salad throughout strawberry season this year.

I know it’s no ranch-drenched bowl of iceberg. But it’ll do.

STRAWBERRY MARKET SALAD

(Adapted from Magnolia Table)

Ingredients
1 head Romaine lettuce (or 1 bag baby spinach or your favorite mixed greens)
1 pound fresh strawberries
1/3 cup feta crumbles (or bleu cheese or Gorgonzola)
1 recipe candied pecans or ramen (recipe follows)
1 recipe vinaigrette (recipe follows)

For candied ramen:
1 packet ramen noodles (uncooked), crushed OR 1 cup pecan halves
4 tablespoons salted butter (use just 2 tablespoons if using nuts)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

For vinaigrette:
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (Gaines uses red wine vinegar; don’t tell her I said so, but I tried both and think apple cider vinegar is the clear winner of the two)
1/2 cup oil (you can use olive oil, but I use corn oil because I’m not fancy)
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions
■ For salad: Make candied pecans or ramen (see recipe). While those cool, prepare salad. Wash and chop lettuce into small pieces. Wash, cap, and slice strawberries into a bowl. If berries are not sweet, sprinkle with about a tablespoon of granulated sugar and allow strawberries to macerate (that is, give the sugar time to draw out some liquid from the strawberries to create a light syrup). Crumble feta into a separate bowl. I keep all salad ingredients separate and allow each family member to build their own bowl, but you could also toss everything together and hope for the best.
■ For candied ramen: With clean hands, crush ramen noodles into bite-sized pieces. In a skillet (preferably nonstick for easy cleanup), melt butter. Allow butter to begin to brown and add brown sugar. Stir until well combined. Add ramen noodle pieces and stir to coat. Spread mixture evenly across pan and allow to sit undisturbed for a few minutes, until the mixture becomes fragrant and you begin to see sugar melting. Stir thoroughly and allow to sit undisturbed another few minutes. For ramen, this process takes around 7-8 minutes total; for pecans, it takes 3-5 minutes. Remove ramen from pan and spread out to cool on a plate or piece of waxed paper. (Note: Pecans made this way will keep well on the pantry shelf in an airtight container. I think the same is true for ramen but have not tested this theory, as there was not a morsel leftover after I made them.)
■ For dressing: Mix all ingredients in a dressing carafe or pint jar. Close lid and shake vigorously. Keep any leftovers in refrigerator for up to a week. Recipe doubles well.

Amelia Plair is a mom and high school teacher in Starkville. Email reaches her at [email protected].

Amelia Plair is a Starkville resident who writes occasional food columns.