Last week we went strawberry picking at a local organic farm – the weather was perfect and it was kind of fun, but it was an all day project. (Thankfully I didn’t see any snakes, but you can bet I was thinking about it.) We picked a good share of the morning (I guess that’s why they’re so much less expensive when you pick them yourself), then most of afternoon I was rinsing, chopping the tops off and freezing.
But oh what fun it is now that they’re all frozen and ready to use!
Here are some of my favorite strawberry recipes, and then please let us know what other favorites you have! Keep in mind these can easily be adapted to whatever fruit is in season at the time.
Strawberries & Cream (soon it will be blueberries & cream, and peaches & cream…ooh, I love summer!)
If you grew up eating strawberries and cream during strawberry season, then you already know all this, but as much as we loved treats at my house, this isn’t something I remember us having. It’s so easy and nutritious! Yes, I know, it’s not good for you due to the sugar, but it’s pretty darn close if you ask me.
- Start with local fruit in season, organic if possible – anything you can buy locally and in season is nutritionally leaps and bounds ahead of trucked-in produce any day.
- Sprinkle a little palm sugar on top. My palm sugar says, “Organic evaporated palm sugar – low glycemic index sweetener (GI=35) and high in nutrients.” What I like about it is that it doesn’t have a real strong taste like Rapadura, yet it is still a more natural sweetener. I use it for most everything since Ann Marie told me about it. More on sweeteners.
- Pour real cream over the top. Raw cream if you can get it. We like to shake our raw cream into our milk, so I use the pasteurized whipping cream (NOT ultra-pasteurized!). Cream has good nutrients in it from the healthy dairy fat!
That’s IT!
Another plus to this treat is that it is a little sweet (you can put as much or as little palm sugar on as you’d like), without a grain. (See the comments from this nut bars post for more info about why eating grains with sweets is a recipe for bad health – very interesting.) Not that I plan to give up cookies for life or anything crazy like that (many have, and wow, they’re goooood), but it makes me thankful that I love treats like this recipe, along with other no-grain sweets, like Creme Brule, my homemade ice cream, etc.
MORE SEASONAL RECIPE IDEAS:
- Smoothies: Our 10 year old wanted to try the above in a smoothie, so I added some raw egg yolks first (for extra nutrition), and then the above ingredients, and it was tasty! More Smoothie ideas.
- Fruit Crisp – If you don’t have a good recipe, let me know and I’ll post one.
- Strawberry Shortcake – Jeanne gave me a great tip last week: she said to use the “Hot Milk Sponge Cake” (Google it) in my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook for the shortcake, and put the berries on that with real whipped cream – it was so good!
- Just berries with some real whipped cream on top are great, too!
- What else do you like to use seasonal fruit for?
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- Crispy Nuts – a healthy snack!
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Sustainable Eats 06.23.09 at 12:43 am
We like to make fruit leather with strawberries. I do about 1/2 the quantity of applesauce (homemade with no sugar) and strawberries in the blender and then pour it onto the fruit leather sheets for my dehydrator. It makes a great sugar free snack for the kids to take in their lunches.
Another great fruit leather is cream cheese mixes with strawberries then dried and we also like cocoa nibs mixed with strawberries and then dried.
I’ve also just dehydrated straight strawberries to use in muffins – it makes them so intense!
And freezing any leftover strawberry smoothies into popsicles is a great treat as well. Love, love, love that summer is finally here!
Sustainable Eats’s last blog post..Pruning Tomatoes
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Elizabeth 06.23.09 at 7:17 am
Fresh strawberries is one of my favorite treats and I’ve got a freezer full of them right now! I have so many great uses for them, but here are my favorites:
1) Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar. Delicious! About a pound of fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced (I haven’t tried this with frozen). Drizzle 2 T organic balsamic vinegar over them, Sprinkle 1/4 C sugar (I know, I know, sugar’s the devil, but this is one of the times that the devil makes me do it!) over them. Mix gently and let sit for an hour or so, then crack fresh pepper to taste over them. Try it! You’ll like it!
2) Partially defrosted strawberries topped with homemade, raw milk, plain yogurt dolloped on top (add a bit of honey if you absolutely have to), sprinkle with your favor nuts. Gives me an ice-cream feel.
Elizabeth’s last blog post.."Excess Baggage" or "Refined Foods Are The Devil"
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SCB 06.23.09 at 7:57 am
Hi Kelly – what is your strawberry freezing method? Some people sugar them, some don’t (sounds like you didn’t). The only way I’ve done it is to stem them, wash, make sure dry (so no ice crystals will form) and then spread out on a cookie sheet, freeze so they stay separate, and then put in a ziplock. Is that what you do too? Yours look gorgeous! Thanks.
SCB’s last blog post..Stumptown Downtown
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Kimberly Hartke 06.23.09 at 9:04 am
Hi Kelly–I found pink lady cherries at the farmers market this weekend, and made cherry ice cream! I pureed some red cherries, and then seeded and halved the pink cherries and added those. It was yummy! The pink ladies are so sweet, I only used 1/4 cup of maple syrup (could have used an 1/8 of a cup!)
Kimberly
Kimberly Hartke’s last blog post..Natural Cures Blog Carnival –Vacations are Good for You!
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Rebecca in Michigan 06.23.09 at 10:28 am
I am wanting to make strawberry jam. Any ideas of making this without all the sugar?
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Catherine 06.23.09 at 11:17 am
Rebecca, I am sure you can use stevia as a replacement. Stevia mixed with other sweet fruit masks the stevia aftertaste quite well. The health food store carries jam sweetened with grape juice concentrate and they are still very sweet. There are also some fermented jam recipes in Nourishing Traditions using sugar. During the fermentation process the sugar would be digested and the final product not as sweet.
Catherine’s last blog post..Good Gut Health Is Essential For Immunity
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Sustainable Eats 06.23.09 at 11:23 am
You can also use pomona pectin and honey or stevia. Pomona does not use the sugar to activate the pectin so you can use however or whatever you want to flavor and as much or little as you want. It’s very cool! http://www.sustainableeats.com/2009/06/product-spotlight-pomona-pectin/
Sustainable Eats’s last blog post..Winter and Spring Eating
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Millie 06.23.09 at 1:03 pm
We used to live in Oregon and loved going each year to pick strawberries. We usually ate so many fresh that it was hard to have enough left to freeze!
We recently moved to Wyoming and I have yet to find a place for strawberries (or pretty much any other fruit or veggie). I’m hopeful that some will turn up soon.
Millie’s last blog post..The Breakfast of Champions
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Alyss 06.23.09 at 4:46 pm
Mmm… it’s strawberry season here in Western Oregon and we’ve been eating plenty of them. I had some for breakfast the other day (a pint of strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced, with about a tablespoon of evaporated cane sugar sprinkled over top) with a big dollop of sour cream. My dad likes to serve peaches and sour cream too!
I like to make whipped cream in a mason jar. Fill the jar up about 1/4 of the way, put on a lid and shake shake shake. Sometimes I’ll eat a half pint jar of whipped cream with maple syrup and chocolate chips for dessert instead of ice cream.
Rebecca in Michigan – look for Pomona’s Universal Pectin. It uses a calcium solution to set the jam so you can use whatever sugar (stevia, honey, none at all) you want in the recipe. Most pectins require sugar to set so you don’t get a good jam if you reduce the sugar.
Alyss’s last blog post..Breakfasts of Champions
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Tamara 06.23.09 at 4:53 pm
Strawberry season just ended over here in MD (or at least thas what the farmer told me on Sat at the farmer’s market) so i missed most of the fun. Next year I will know better, cause im a strawberry fanatic.
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Caroline 06.23.09 at 8:42 pm
I love doing my strawberries (or other fruit. not local here but mangos are GREAT with cream, as are all berries, peaches, etc) and cream with no sweetner. Then there is no sugar guilt, and really between ripe fruit and cream, its plenty sweet. Or if I must add a sweetener to cream or whipped cream, my choice is always maple syrup. Its pretty healthy, traditional, and adds good taste as well as sweetness.
Can you can the no-sugar jams? I thought the jam was a sweetner
I’d love your recipe for fruit crisps.
Caroline’s last blog post..Grateful Fridays
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Erin 06.23.09 at 9:20 pm
To Rebecca, You can make jam with honey if you use Pomona’s Universal pectin. I buy mine thru Azure. It’s great! I’m hoping to attempt some freezer jams this weekend, those don’t get cooked! Talk about fresh!
Erin’s last blog post..Carnitas
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JenO 06.23.09 at 10:50 pm
I’ll 2nd the Pomona Pectin for a no sugar jam.
Kelly, I’d love to know where you picked your berries. I’m hoping to stay on the NE side of town.
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Rebecca in Michigan 06.24.09 at 7:30 am
I will have to look for this for next year. I purchased Ball Fruit Jell Freezer Jam Pectin. It only uses 1 1/2 cups of sugar vs. 4 cups of sugar. To me this is better than the other and then next year I can go even less. Thank you for the help.
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Living A Whole Life 06.25.09 at 3:56 pm
Love all the great ideas and I am currently enjoying some great Michigan strawberries too!
Karla
Living A Whole Life’s last blog post..Cool Summer Salads with Cilantro
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Jeanne 06.25.09 at 10:10 pm
For a really decadent dessert:
Last week I had some homemade vanilla icecream (about 3 cups). I let the icecream soften a bit than add 1 qt. strawberries that I had thawed, juice and all to the icecream. I beat this mixture until incorporated. Then put it in a homemade graham cracker piecrust and froze. I served this with homemade whipcream.
Yummy!
I used to make a similiar pie with fruit yogurt and cool whip — good, but full of junk!
[Reply]
Kelly 06.26.09 at 6:20 pm
SE, you’re making me want a dehydrator BAD.
Elizabeth, what unique ideas, thanks, I’ll try them!
SCB, yep, that’s what I do, too.
Hi Kim H.! Our cherries should be ready anytime, I can’t wait to try your ice cream!
Alyss, geesh, I wish I didn’t know about that yummy treat idea…that may prove to be dangerous someday…
JenO, so fun to meet you the other day at the car seat check!! I went to Carmody Farms, but you’ll have to go quick, they may be past strawberries now. 677-3181. It’s in Marne, though, I think.
Jeanne, yummy recipe!
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