Strawberries, in one ancient Greek myth, sprang from the tears Aphrodite wept at the death of her lovely Adonis. In an uptight Middle Ages, strawberries were sometimes seen as the fruit of temptation and seduction.
In the Northwest, is there anything so tempting or to die for than our fresh, locally grown strawberries?
Sure, some things have given strawberries bad associations — Darryl Strawberry, Strawberry Alarm Clock — but by and large, we love the sweet, succulent fruit with the seeds on the outside.
And they’re out there now, rolling into your local farmers markets and co-ops from nearby farms. Many even find their way into the big supermarkets. (Check HeraldNet.com’s interactive map to contact a farmers market near you, your best bet for local berries.)
The big Northwest strawberry window of opportunity is open for the summer, so reach through and grab a handful, or a pint, or a peck. Then take those treasures home and indulge. Here’s a favorite strawberry recipe:
Wash berries. Remove stem. Pop in mouth. Chew.
OK, so you want to get a little less minimal. Fine, but let’s keep it as close to the fresh essence of strawberry as we can. Here are four recipes — a drink, a salad, a salsa for grilled salmon and a dessert — with precious little cooking involved, and all kinds of strawberry flavor coming through.
A traditional Mexican way to enjoy fruit in a refreshing cool drink, this is almost as simple as popping the berries in your mouth.
Strawberry agua fresca
2 1/2cups strawberries, rinsed and stemmed
3tablespoons sugar
11/2tablespoons lime juice
2 1/2cups water (carbonated, if you like)
In a blender, puree strawberries with sugar and lime juice. If you have something against pulp, then rub the puree through a fine strainer into a large jar or pitcher and discard pulp. Pour in water and stir. Pour the agua fresca over ice cubes into tall glasses. Add decorative strawberry slices. Want to throw in a shot of vodka? Knock yourself out.
Makes about 1 quart.
It’s fast, easy, tasty and even healthy.
Strawberry-spinach salad with pecans
5ounces baby spinach or mixed salad greens (Yes, that happens to be the size of the packaged stuff.)
11/2cups sliced fresh strawberries
3/4cup pecans, toasted
Goat cheese
(For dressing, combine the following four ingredients in a jar or bottle with a tight lid, close and shake like crazy until combined and emulsified. Add pepper, if you like.)
2tablespoons champagne vinegar
1teaspoon Dijon mustard
1teaspoon honey
1/2cup extra-virgin olive oil
Toss the greens with just a little of the dressing and arrange on plates or bowls. Scatter some pecans around. Spread the strawberries on top and crumble goat cheese to your liking on top. Drizzle some more dressing on top.
It always surprises me how many different sauces or dressing go well with salmon. I’ve found recipes for blueberries and raspberries, so why not strawberries?
Foodbuzz.com published this recipe from the California Strawberry Commission in July 2008. One caution: Take the recipe seriously on the amount of minced ginger. Too much can start to overwhelm the berries.
Grilled salmon with strawberry ginger salsa
1pint strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
2tablespoons chopped red onion
2tablespoons fresh lime juice
1tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/2teaspoon honey
1tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
4skinless salmon filets, 6 ounces each
1teaspoon olive oil
Salt and pepper
Mix strawberries, onion, lime juice, ginger and honey in small bowl. Set aside to allow flavors to combine. Fire up a grill or heat a ridged grill pan over medium high heat. Oil salmon with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill 5 minutes on one side, turn, and grill 4 additional minutes. Transfer to serving platter. Add basil and cilantro to strawberry mixture. Spoon over salmon.
Finally, dessert. This selection is somewhat pared down from a recipe by Jean-Georges Vongerichten in the June 2008 edition of Food &Wine, if you want to look up the whole thing. It involved making a crisp meringue to crumble on top and paired a scoop of sorbet with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Oh yeah, then drizzle aged balsamic vinegar on top. And whipped cream. Here’s the sorbet part, and it’s quite lovely all by itself, and not nearly so fussy.
Strawberry–red wine sorbet
2pounds strawberries, hulled and quartered, plus 30 medium strawberries, hulled, for garnish
1/4cup fresh lemon juice
1cup dry red wine
2cups sugar
1vanilla bean, split
In a large bowl, toss the 2 pounds of quartered strawberries with the lemon juice. In a medium saucepan, stir the red wine with the sugar. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the saucepan. Warm the wine syrup over moderate heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the syrup over the strawberries. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate the strawberries and syrup until chilled, about 25 minutes.
Transfer the strawberries and syrup to a food processor and puree. Transfer the strawberry puree to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
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