Surprising Strawberries
The Strawberry festival is next Saturday the United Methodist Church in Davidsonville. When I passed by the sign on Rt. 214 it got me thinking about how well Spring greens and herbs go with Strawberries, the perfect pairing of red and green goodness! Strawberry spinach salad is usually the first thing that comes to mind, but there are so many other amazing pairings that you may not have considered.
First, where to find the Strawberries? Davidsonville has it's own U-pick Strawberry Farm, Chase's is located on Rt. 424 just after you get off the exit for Rt. 50. Look for open pavilion with green roof on Southbound Rt. 424. Looks like, weather permitting, the next day they will be open is on Wednesday for U-pick. Even though we grow a small bed of strawberries for our own home use at the Farmette (photo above), we love to go and get a huge flat at Chase's to bring home for strawberry freezer jam, strawberry lemonade, and generally to gorge ourselves on this sweet Spring treat.
So many things growing at the Farmette pair beautifully with Strawberries. Some surprising like Strawberry Radish Salsa.
Just a Li'l Spicy Strawberry Radish Salsa
Quick and easy, spicy and sweet, light and bright! A tasty addition to seafood, salads, and good old-fashioned chip-dipping!
Ingredients
1 1/3 cup diced strawberries about ½ pound
2/3 cup diced radish
2/3 cup chopped red onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh jalapeno more if you want spicier
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon white ground pepper
In medium bowl, add strawberries, radish, onion, jalapeno, and cilantro leaves in a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, honey, salt and pepper.Pour lime juice mixture over strawberry mixture. Serve with chips or as a condiment with fish, tacos, salads, and more! Makes 3 cups.
Spinach is an obvious pairing for strawberries, but how about arugula? Try the following with grilled salmon or chicken for a complete dinner:
Arugula greens
2 tbsp Chives, fresh
1/2 Red onion
16 oz Strawberries
I would adapt the 5-minute homemade Champange Vinaigrette recipe by replacing the Champagne Vinegar with White Balsamic (available at Trader Joe's) and omitting the dijon mustard and adding poppyseeds!
Here is another novel way to include strawberries and arugula into your main course, Strawberry, Arugula, Goat cheese Pizza. I make my own dough in our bread maker but if you are not into that extra step fresh dough is available at grocery stores like Trader Joe's, Mom's Organic, and Whole Foods.
Toppings:
1/3 cup (3 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 cup trimmed watercress, arugula, or other leafy green
1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Dash of salt
Dash of freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shaved fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3 tablespoons toasted almonds or pistachios, chopped Read more at https://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2009/05/strawberry-arugula-and-goat-cheese-pizza.html#cb3gd6k8coKsc0MU.99
There is a standing joke around our house about me incorporating kale into everything, even cookies. Did you try the "Gator bites" at the DAA Gator Day? When my kids saw me gathering recipes for this week's topic they were like "Mom, please don't add strawberries to kale!!" So I took that as a challenge to find a REALLY good strawberry-kale pairing! Here it is:
Strawberry Kale Salad with Nutty Granola Croutons (here are the ingredients for the salad for the complete recipe visit https://cookieandkate.com/strawberry-kale-salad-with-nutty-granola-croutons/)
8 ounces kale
½ pound strawberries, hulled and sliced
4 to 5 medium radishes, sliced thin and roughly chopped
2 ounces chilled goat cheese (or about ⅓ cup cup goat cheese crumbles)
This is the first week for my mesclun mix salad greens so I wanted to include it in the strawberry salad recipes as well. Try this recipe by food scientist Jessica Gavin: https://www.jessicagavin.com/summer-fruit-salad-peach-poppy-seed-dressing/
What I love the best about this one is that it includes peaches, my favorite fruit, and the church also has a Peach Festival a few months from now during peach season! Stay tuned for more on peaches in the coming months!
There are loads of great recipes for Strawberry Viniagrettes on Pinterest (you know Pinterest is my favorite for recipe sharing!!!). So I pinned them here to share with you.
I was also very inspired by the strawberry green smoothie recipes that I found. I know I always warn about how gross mixing berries with green smoothies looks but these recipes seemed to have the right mix to actually turn out a pleasing shade of green. My daughter Ava is crazy for avocados and she thought this recipe looked particularly promising: 1/2 Avocado, ripe1 cup Baby spinach, packed fresh1 Banana, large fresh or frozen and cut into chunks1 cup Strawberries, fresh, 1 cup Almond milk, unsweetened. I'll post to Instagram after we try it, stay tuned.
Finally, don't forget the herbs. Strawberries pair so well with basil, mint, and even sage or thyme I had a really hard time picking out which to include, so here we go one (ok maybe two) from each category:
Breakfast: These are called hand-pies but they look like pop tarts to me Strawberry, Thyme and Goat Cheese Hand Pies. They also look delicious!
Drinks: My daughter Maggie and I are obsessed with Kombucha and while it's not for everyone I thought this recipe for Strawberry Basil Kombucha looked amazing!!! Even if you are not into Kombucha there is a similar "cocktail" call a shrub, that was historically once very popular in the United States. It is made with vinegar (stay with me here), and has both health benefits and a sweet and tangy taste that is pleasing as an alcohol alternative. Try this shrub and see if it's for you, Strawberry Mint Shrub. Of course there are loads of strawberry lemonade and strawberry spritzer recipes out there, I pinned bunch that I want to try on the Farmette Strawberry Festival board.
Appetizers: These sound so intriguing to me, Strawberry Caprese and Strawberry-Sage muffins.
Dessert: Ok I'm a salad farmer, but I definitely have a sweet tooth and there is no reason with all these greens being consumed I can't indulge in some Strawberry Oat Bars with Thyme, or Strawberry Mint Brownies. Oh forget, two per category, how about Cheesecake with Strawberry-Basil Balsamic Sauce or Strawberry-Mint Limeade popsicles, or Strawberry, Caramel, and Thyme Sticky buns!! Now I'm just getting carried away, I think you should check out the Pinterest board.