Article: Kula Strawberry & Macadamia Nut Oil Vinaigrette Salad
Kula Strawberry & Macadamia Nut Oil Vinaigrette Salad
Some recipes are greater than the sum of their parts. This is one of them.
Kula strawberries at peak season. Kuleana Hawaiʻi Grown Macadamia Nut Oil whisked into a vinaigrette so good you'll want to put it on everything. Creamy goat cheese from down the road. Roasted nuts for crunch. Fresh basil because it's summer and basil belongs everywhere.
This salad is simple enough for a weeknight and stunning enough for a dinner party — and it's built entirely from ingredients grown on the slopes of Haleakalā.
The Trick That Makes This Salad
Before you make the vinaigrette, macerate your strawberries — toss them with honey and a pinch of salt and let them sit for 10–15 minutes. They'll soften slightly, turn glossy, and release their juices into the bowl.
Here's the move: pour those juices directly into your vinaigrette. It deepens the flavor, adds a natural sweetness, and gives the dressing a gorgeous blush color that makes the whole salad look like summer.
Why Macadamia Nut Oil in a Vinaigrette?
Kuleana Hawaiʻi Grown Macadamia Nut Oil emulsifies beautifully with white balsamic — it's light enough not to overpower the strawberries, but rich enough to coat every leaf with flavor. Its subtle nuttiness rounds out the acidity of the vinegar and brings a depth that a neutral oil simply can't.
Kula Strawberry & Macadamia Nut Oil Vinaigrette Salad
Serves 4 | Ready in 20 minutes
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 2 cups Kula Country Farms strawberries, hulled and halved
- 5 cups mixed greens, spinach, or arugula, try Oko'a Farms
- 3 oz fresh goat cheese, crumbled, try Surfing Goat Dairy
- ⅓ cup roasted pecans, walnuts, or macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup fresh basil leaves, torn
- 1 teaspoon local honey
- Pinch of flaky sea salt
For the vinaigrette:
- 3 tablespoons Kuleana Hawaiʻi Grown Macadamia Nut Oil (plus extra for finishing)
- 1½ tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
- 1 shallot, finely minced
- ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt
- ⅓ teaspoon black pepper, freshly cracked
- Strawberry macerating juices (see Step 1)
Instructions
Step 1 — Macerate the strawberries
Toss the halved strawberries with honey and a pinch of flaky sea salt. Let sit for 10–15 minutes until glossy and juicy. Don't skip this step — the juice is going in your dressing.
Step 2 — Make the vinaigrette
Whisk together the white balsamic vinegar, minced shallot, salt, and black pepper. Slowly drizzle in the macadamia nut oil while whisking continuously to emulsify. Taste and adjust acidity or sweetness as needed.
Step 3 — Add the strawberry juice
Pour any juices pooled from the macerated strawberries into the vinaigrette and whisk to combine. Watch the color shift — that's your dressing becoming something special.
Step 4 — Assemble
Arrange the greens on a wide platter or bowl. Scatter the macerated strawberries over the top, then add the crumbled goat cheese and roasted nuts.
Step 5 — Dress and finish
Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad. Finish with torn fresh basil and a final drizzle of macadamia nut oil straight from the bottle for aroma and sheen. Serve immediately.
Meet the Farms Behind This Salad
This recipe was designed to celebrate the farmers growing some of the most exceptional produce in Hawaiʻi — all of them Upcountry neighbors on the slopes of Haleakalā.
Kula Country Farms — The Strawberries
Tucked along Kula Highway, Kula Country Farms has been a four-generation family farm growing with love. Their food-safety certified farm is best known for their legendary Kula strawberries — grown at elevation where cooler temperatures and rich volcanic soil produce berries that are intensely sweet, deeply fragrant, and unlike anything you'll find on the mainland.
Surfing Goat Dairy — The Cheese
Just down the road, Surfing Goat Dairy has been crafting award-winning goat cheeses since 1999. Their fresh chèvre is creamy and bright with just enough tang to balance the sweetness of the strawberries and the richness of the macadamia nut oil. A natural, local match.
Oko'a Farms — The Greens
Named for the Hawaiian word meaning "whole" or "complete," Oko'a Farms is a family-run operation in lower Kula practicing full-circle organic farming across five parcels of Upcountry land. Growing over 100 crops — including arugula, dino kale, dandelion greens, and mustard greens — their produce brings the same Upcountry terroir to your salad bowl that Kuleana oils bring to your dressing. Visit their Upcountry or Wailea storefronts seven days a week.
This Is What Local Tastes Like
When every ingredient in a dish has a story — a farm, a family, a patch of volcanic soil on the slopes of Haleakalā — the food means something more. That's what this salad is. Not just a recipe, but a small, delicious argument for eating Hawaiʻi.
Kuleana Hawaiʻi Grown Macadamia Nut Oil ties it all together — expeller-pressed, chemical-free, grown and made in Hawaiʻi.
